


Falling in Temptation

by noblecrescent



Series: The Fairytale Memoirs [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Developing Relationship, Drama, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements, Fairy Tale Style, Family Feels, Family Secrets, Fantasy, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Frenemies, Friends to Lovers, Friendship / Flirting / Thinking of You Fest, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:34:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 28
Words: 299,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23960026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noblecrescent/pseuds/noblecrescent
Summary: Sequel to Stars Dance: It's not time to fall in love. In fact, the Doctor thinks it should be forbidden being who he is and what he attracts from the galaxies. He's dangerous (though Avalon knows it and likes it). However, Avalon is sought out by the Silence and knowing that she will suffer in the end, the Doctor intends on doing what he has to, to keep her safe...even if breaks his hearts.**Second in the Fairy-tale Memoirs**
Relationships: Eleventh Doctor/OC, Eleventh Doctor/Original Character(s), Eleventh Doctor/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Fairytale Memoirs [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727383
Comments: 34
Kudos: 29





	1. Who Did It?

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my second Doctor Who story involving my OC, Avalon Reynolds, and the 11th Doctor. This story will include the entire 6th season rewrite with original chapters thrown in. Unlike the first story where there were two OCs, this story will bump the second OC - Lena Reynolds - to a recurring OC. This will be an eventual OC/11th Doctor pairing story!
> 
> Avalon Reynolds will look like Rachelle Lefevre - ginger locks and blue eyes!
> 
> Lena Reynolds will look like Bella Heathcote - ashy brown hair and blue eyes!
> 
> The theme song for this story is "Make You Stay" by the Girl And The Dreamcatcher.

Amy Pond and Rory Williams were setting grocery bags on the kitchen counter of their new flat, although Amy was more preoccupied with a book she was reading from, " _At the personal intervention of the King, the unnamed Doctor was incarcerated without trial in the Tower Of London..._ " She'd found the book earlier in the day when she saw certain details of the history looking a bit distorted. She'd bought it and had read more than halfway through it by the afternoon, seeing at which points of history the Doctor was trying to get their attention from.

"OK, but it doesn't have to be him," Rory reminded his wife, "...is there anything about Ava?"

"No, she's staying out of trouble...for once," Amy had to admit that was slightly weird.

She didn't know exactly how long it had been for Avalon and the Doctor since they started traveling together, but she knew it had to have been quite some months now. However long it had been, though, they hadn't heard one situation in which Avalon had gotten into trouble. That...that was shocking news, honestly. For anyone who knew Avalon Reynolds, they could estimate just how long she would last before getting into trouble again. It seemed like the Doctor was actually being a good influence despite the situations he got himself into.

" _Two nights later a magical sphere some 20 feet across was seen floating away from the tower, bearing the mysterious Doctor aloft_ ," Amy had continued reading after putting away the groceries.

"Okay, it's him," Rory shrugged, "But as long as Ava isn't mention in any of those, I'm good."

"There's more!" Amy called with a smirk. It seemed like the Doctor had also gotten into some type of German jail and was trying to escape along with some other prisoners...only to get caught.

"Like I said, no Ava, no trouble," Rory strode into the living room after finishing up putting away the groceries.

"It's like he's being deliberately ridiculous, trying to attract our attention," Amy shook her head and followed him, "And aren't you a bit curious about Avalon? Why isn't she there with him?"

"I'm actually thanking the Gods she's not there with him," Rory got comfortable on the couch and turned on the television, his favorite movie on. He didn't even want to think about Avalon going to jail in historical times.

"Are you watching this again?" Amy looked at the television with a face as she closed her book.

"I've explained the jokes," Rory sighed. At the sound of the doorbell, Amy went to go answer, "So what are you saying? Do you really think he's back there trying to wave to us out of history books?" he called.

"Don't know, it's the sort of thing he'd do," she accepted the mail and shut the door.

"Yeah, but why?"

"He said he'd be in touch."

"Two months ago. Who knows how long it's been for him now," Rory shrugged.

"Two months is nothing. He's up to something, I know he is, I know him," Amy set the rest of the mail aside and held a TARDIS-blue colored envelope in her hands.

"What is it?" Rory noticed her go quiet, "Amy?"

"A date, a time, a map reference," Amy turned the envelope over for him to see, "I think it's an invitation."

"From who?"

"It's not signed. Look, TARDIS blue!" Amy waved the envelope around, "I'm gonna go call Lena!"

~ 0 ~

Another envelope landed on a bed, that of the cell of River Song, who picked up the letter and opened it up, smiling as she read the inside. She looked around with a smirk and began preparing for her departure.

~ 0 ~

"Lena! There's mail!" young Gavin Reynolds shouted as he ran towards the kitchen where Lena and their father, Ryland, were eating lunch.

"I got mail?" Lena reached for the blue-colored envelope, "Funny, Avalon usually sends postcards," she looked at her father with confusion.

"Open it up, sweetheart. Maybe this time she wrote something longer," Ryland encouraged her, curious and hopeful that his eldest daughter had finally written something more than just a couple sentences on a postcard. It had been two months (for him anyways) since he let Avalon run off with the Doctor to time travel. Unbeknownst to the others, he hoped that this would keep Avalon safe. He was just glad that she was with someone he could trust and who'd take good care of her.

"What is it, Lena?" Gavin peered over Lena shoulder, "What is it?"

"I think it's invitation from my big brother," Lena began smiling, "Oh, it's been long! I can't wait to see Avalon!"

~ 0 ~

"Miss Williams, this arrived for you," a young man entered a dressing room holding a blue-colored envelope in hand.

Avalon Reynolds looked up from the conversation she was in the middle with...Mary Costa (the voice actress of Avalon's favorite movie - Sleeping Beauty). She'd dropped by for a visit at Mary's house about an hour ago and was in no hurry to leave her idol. Though when she saw the color of the envelope she knew it was probably time to go.

"Thank you," Avalon took the envelope from the servant.

"Who's it from?" Mary curiously asked as she watched Avalon opened the envelope up.

"Probably from the Doctor," Avalon took out the letter and read it, "Funny, he's given references for...Stormcage," she blinked.

"And that's...bad?" Mary made a face as if it were something negative. She barely understood the concept of 'time travel' but she tried her best for Avalon, seeing how close the two had gotten since Avalon had started her travels.

"No, just...peculiar, that's all," Avalon stood up and started putting in the coordinations for Stormcage at the exact time she'd been instructed to in her Vortex Manipulator, "Oh well, gotta run, Mary. Thanks for the lunch," she hugged the blonde woman.

"Anytime, dear," Mary waved and watched the flash of light take over as Avalon disappeared.

~ 0 ~

A yell school bus stopped in the middle of a plain road in Utah. Out of the bus came Rory, Lena and Amy, all carrying backpacks on their backs and dressed casually.

"Thanks!" Amy called to the driver and waved as the bus drove off, turning around with the others.

"Uh! This is it, yeah? The right place?" Lena looked around, "It's a stupid desert," she made a face.

"Nowhere, middle of? Yeah, this is it," Rory nodded, "Who else but the Doctor?"

"Howdy!" they heard from behind. The three turned around to find the Doctor lying on the hood of a 1960's, red, station wagon.

"Big brother!" Lena exclaimed and dashed to go greet him.

"Ha-ha! My baby sister!" the Doctor jumped off the car and hugged Lena, "Oh, and the Ponds! Pond One and Pond Two!" he moved on to hug Amy, "Hello, Ponds, come here!"

"So someone's been a busy boy then, eh?" Amy teased as she hugged him.

"Did you see me?"

"Of course! Stalker!"

"Flirt!"

"Husband," Rory waved a hand with a mock-offense expression.

"And Rory the Roman! Oh, come here!" the Doctor laughed and hugged him.

"Hey, nice hat, big brother," Lena remarked to the hat the Doctor wore on his head.

"I wear a Stetson now, Stetsons are cool," the Doctor smirked about to flick it into position when a gun was fired, making him wince forwards, and blew the hat right off his head.

"Sorry!" the group heard someone shout from across. Avalon quickly passed - or chucked - the gun back to River who stood beside her, and really tried her best not laugh right there and then.

"Avalon," the Doctor turned around, a new expression on his face when he saw her. It was a sad smile but...a smile nonetheless. He dashed for her, almost tripping from how fast he went. "Avalon!"

"I think I'm in trouble," Avalon whispered to River as she stepped forwards. She hadn't really meant to shoot the poor alien's hat. She just wanted to shoot _beside_ the alien with a new blaster. But now she was sure to get a scolding from him, Rory and then Lena...

"Ava!" the Doctor surprised her instead by picking her up in a spinning hug.

"Oh, okay," Avalon quickly took the easier road and hugged back. "Nice to see you too," she laughed as she was set back on her feet.

"What's going on?" Lena came up beside them along with Amy and Rory, all finding the reactions of the Doctor slightly weird.

"And what is that?" Amy pointed at the manipulator Avalon wore on her wrist. It sat just above the Doctor's old watch which she had truly kept after winning it from their Christmas bet.

"Like?" Avalon waved her wrist, "Brand new, barely breaking it in."

"Why?" Lena frowned, "I thought you were traveling together..."

"We are," the Doctor nodded, "But I wanted to go to one place and Ava the other, so we compromised."

"By giving her a manipulator?" River raised an eyebrow, even she herself finding that strange for the 'early' days.

"Oh calm down, I've been responsible...ish," Avalon had to add that part after a moment, making the entire group sigh with resignation at their friend, all except the Doctor of course who just smiled at her.

~ 0 ~

The group had relocated to a diner not too far from where they'd been. The Doctor led them inside while being linked arms with Avalon. Lena went up to the counter, eyes already on the menu, "Oh, I want some dessert."

"Me too!" Avalon left the Doctor and hurried up beside her sister, "By the way, can I borrow some money?"

"You didn't bring any money, did you?" Lena turned to her, "Always counting that I'll have some."

"Not true," Avalon threw a thumb over her shoulder, " _Rory_ always has money for me."

Lena scoffed and crossed her arms, "He is not gonna have any mo-"

'I got it," Rory came over with his wallet out, Lena's mouth hanging open in surprise.

"Really?"

"Ava's Ava," was the excuse Rory always used.

Avalon cheekily smiled, "Thanks Rory," she hugged him, "I promise I'll pay you back."

"This is a reward," Rory clarified, "Because you didn't get in trouble like _someone_..." he shot a look at the Doctor.

"Ha," Avalon stuck her tongue out at the alien.

"I could just tell them what you did in Milan," the Doctor warned as he crossed his arms, smirking when she went quiet.

"What happened in Milan?" Amy stepped over, curious to know what gimmick Avalon had come up with this time.

"Nothing!" Avalon quickly exclaimed, "Absolutely nothing. So, Rory, if you can get my favorite dessert, please? Strawberry-"

"Strawberry milkshake with whip cream, hold the cherry on top, though," the Doctor finished and garnered her attention.

"How did you know that?" she blinked.

"You told me," he shrugged and tugged her away towards one of the booths.

"I did?" Avalon thought for a moment while she slid into an open booth first then the Doctor. "Hm, it's been such a rush I can't even remember that."

"That's what happens when you steal from world-famous designers," River strolled over to them, wearing a smirk on her face as Avalon stiffened.

"How did you-"

"I saw the clothes on a runway...modeled by a one, extravagant ginger woman..." River took a seat in the booth across them, putting her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her hands, "Global thing, newspapers and whatnot."

"You could've said something, then. I went to pick you up in a prison for God's sake! I could've been arrested," Avalon hit the Doctor on the arm, "Thanks for that, by the way. I've never been to an alien prison. Why'd you sent me to pick her up? No offense, River," she quickly glanced at the brunette with a smile.

"None taken," River chuckled..

"She had no manipulator, thought it might be easier on her," the Doctor shrugged, "But I'm more interested in knowing about those clothes you stole?"

"Oops?" Avalon looked at him with a sheepish smile, "I know you said to keep away from trouble but...it was _Milan_ ," she whispered so no one would hear, "Fashion capital! I was just dropping in for a discreet visit when, BAM! I met a model, accidentally got her locked in a closet-"

" _Accidentally_?" River raised an eyebrow.

"Shut up!" Avalon pointed at her, "And then somehow I get branded as a preppy woman-"

"Which you are," the Doctor and River cut in.

"Oi!" Avalon frowned, "Am not. But the designers said I could pass it off and so...voila," she gestured to her clothes.

She wore a light pink dress with white polka-dots, an open beige jacket with three-quarter sleeves and pink flats. She knew it was wrong to steal, especially things that were created by famous people but she hadn't really thought it through at the moment. After the fashion show had ended, she'd been caught by the actual model intended to use the outfit and so without thinking she'd activated her manipulator and flashed out, taking along the clothes with her.

"And after the show ended...you ran with the clothes," the Doctor assumed the last part of the story.

"I didn't run, I used the manipulator," she corrected quietly, "I promise I'll give it back...ish. I just really like it too."

"I think you look lovely," the Doctor smiled softly at her.

"You're not gonna reprimand me like the others?" Avalon blinked, genuinely shocked he wasn't even the least bit angry with her, "Are you feeling well?" she raised an eyebrow, "No alien fever or something?" she even pressed her hand over his forehead to make sure he was alright.

The Doctor laughed and pulled her hand off his face, keeping hold of it for a few extra seconds. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just...happy right now, very happy," his tone had softened like his smile, the latter seeming almost everlasting.

Avalon was momentarily taken aback but in the end she smiled back too. "I'm happy too," she agreed and there was another pause of smiles. "And I can't wait to get back to the TARDIS. Manipulators are fun but I like traveling with my Fairy Tale Man even more."

"Ava!" Rory called from the counter and motioned for her to go get her milkshake.

The Doctor slid out the booth and allowed Avalon to go for her dessert while he took her seat, noticing River's look which consisted of a big smirk, "What?" he frowned as he pulled out a small journal from inside his jacket.

"Can you _be_ more obvious?" she tilted her head, "How far are you?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

River rolled her eyes and set her hands down on the table, "You're from the future," she announced with all certainty about it, "You've got to be, I mean... _that_ -" she discreetly pointed at Avalon, "-was plain obvious. All you needed was to drool in front of her to let her know."

"Shut up," the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"How far are you?"

"...about 200 years," he spoke quietly in case the others returned suddenly, "Don't say a word about it."

"Fine but you may want to dial down the lovey-dovey eyes. Avalon's a smart woman, she'll figure it out and start questioning you," River warned, "And then she'll be freaked out."

"Once she learns what's coming for her she won't even think about some feelings," the Doctor countered. "Your letter didn't cover it accurately, you know."

"Letter?" River repeated with confusion. "I didn't write any letter."

The Doctor stared at her, wanting to figure out if she was lying or not. After everything, he _still_ wasn't completely sure if _that_ was true or not. It bothered him that near his end, he never figured out the secret behind that letter. He would never know who wrote it. Who wrote the letter knowing what was going to happen to Avalon?

"Ew, there's a cherry on my milkshake," Avalon grimaced at the bright, red fruit sitting at the top of the whip cream of her drink, "Rory!" she exclaimed.

"Thank you," Rory passed her and swiped off the cherry, dropping it into his mouth as he and Amy sat with River on one side of the booth and Avalon and Lena with the Doctor on the other.

"So what's happening, then?" Amy immediately questioned the Doctor, "Because you've been up to something."

"Getting into trouble," Lena added, "I saw it all, big brother. Shame on you," she wagged a finger, making the Doctor smile in amusement.

"I've been running...faster than I've ever run, and I've been running my whole life. Now it's time for me to stop," he looked at them all, though spent a bit more with Avalon, "And tonight I'm going to need you all with me."

"What did you have in mind?" Avalon raised an eyebrow as she took a sip of her drink.

"A picnic! And then a trip. Somewhere different, somewhere brand-new."

"Where?"

"Space...1969."

~ 0 ~

Later in the day, the group moved over to the Powell Lake of Utah (otherwise known as Lake Silencio), setting up a picnic like the Doctor had said. They sat on the edges of the blanket while munching on their snacks placed in the center.

"Salut!" the Doctor toasted with a glass of wine.

"Salut!" went the others.

"So it's actually been a year since you started travelling together, then?" Lena asked just to make sure she'd gotten it right. As far as she knew, Avalon had just joined the Doctor a couple months ago.

"Yup," Avalon grinned. "I'm finally 22 like you Lena!" the two sisters high-fived each other.

"So when are we going to 1969?" Rory wondered as he set his wine glass down.

"And since when do you drink wine?" Amy observed the Doctor as he lifted his glass to his mouth.

"He doesn't," Avalon shot him a look. She knew what would come next, but every time she told him he wouldn't listen.

"I'm 1,103 - I must have drunk it some time," he shrugged and drank the glass...only to spit it back out, "Oh, wine's horrid! I thought it would taste more like the gums."

"Wait a minute," Avalon set her glass down, "1,103? You were 909 before you gave me the manipulator. What? Was I that bad of a companion you left me for nearly 200 years?"

"Complicated," the Doctor tensed at his slip.

"Why?" she grew sadder, "Why was it..." her gaze had wandered up to the dunes where she saw a figure silhouetted against the sun, "...who's that?" she whispered.

"Who's who?" the Doctor began scowling, half-guessing what she was seeing.

"Sorry, what?" she looked at him with rapid blinking eyes, "What's going on?" she looked at the others who were staring at her with a bit of concern.

"You said you saw someone," River looked out where Avalon had been staring at.

"No, I didn't," Avalon playfully rolled her eyes and reached for a piece of grape, unaware of the grim look the Doctor was giving her from beside.

"Big brother, you mentioned the moon," Lena got his attention back.

"Right, the moon," the Doctor tore his gaze from Avalon and looked at the rest, "The moon, look at it! Of course, you lot did more than look, didn't you? Big silvery thing in the sky, you couldn't resist it. Quite right."

"The moon landing was in '69," Amy recalled, "Is that where we're going?"

"Oh, a lot more happens in '69 than anyone remembers. Human beings... I thought I'd never get done saving you."

A pickup truck pulled over behind them and an elderly man stepped out. The Doctor stood up waved with a hand, the older man giving a wave back.

"Who's he?" Lena looked over at the older man, assuming it had to be some other friend the Doctor had picked up in his past.

"Oh, my God!" River had jumped up to her feet at the sight of an astronaut standing in the lake, prompting the others to stand up as well.

"What's going on?" Avalon looked around, feeling like it was some sort of trap. But that couldn't be right, the Doctor was the one who sent the letters. He'd never bring them into a trap!

"You all need to stay back. Whatever happens now, you do not interfere," the Doctor instructed them all, "Clear?"

Avalon opened her mouth to refuse but saw the silhouette up at the dunes again, "Woah..." she blinked, "I...remember that, now. I-I think I've seen it before..."

The Doctor tore her gaze away from the figure, not even bothering to look at it himself, "Ava, you listen to me right now," he set his hands on her arms, "You have to be careful, okay? You should..." he swallowed hard, struggling to say his words, "...you should stay away from me."

"What?" she blinked, surprised at his urgency that had come out of no where. "Why would I do that?"

"Because it's the best thing you could've done," he whispered with genuine regret. "If I could change one thing it's this...you..." he gave her one last look before kissing her forehead and walked for the astronaut.

"What's going on?" Avalon moved after him but River kept her back. She felt something in the pit of her stomach, something warning her to bring the Doctor right back. "But we can't let him...I don't understand." She looked at the others who were on the same page.

"That's an astronaut. That's an Apollo astronaut in the lake," Rory stared in awe at the astronaut now standing on the sand beside the lake.

"Seems a little big, mind you," Lena remarked quietly as she looked.

The Doctor stood in front of the astronaut, solemnly eyeing it, "Hello. It's OK, I know it's you," he spoke quietly, watching the visor raise up, "I know the choices that brought you here...I figured it out."

"What's he doing?" Amy whispered to the others, all of them gathered up as they watched the astronaut raised its arm towards the Doctor.

Then it fired.

"Doctor!" Avalon shouted as he staggered back. She rushed for him again but River kept her back while Rory restrained Amy.

"Avalon, Amy! Stay back! The Doctor said stay back!" River reminded, "Lena, don't you dare move!" she warned the brunette who seemed frozen in horror anyways.

But the astronaut fired again and the Doctor fell to his knees on the floor.

"We have to help him!" Avalon fought River to no avail. "LET GO!"

"You have to stay back!"

"NO!"

The Doctor stood up, his hands glowing with his regenerative energy. He looked over at the group, "I'm sorry," he managed to say before he tilted his head back for the regeneration to begin. The astronaut shot him again and ended it, the Doctor collapsing on the ground without a flinch nor twitch.

River finally let Avalon go and hurried along with the others towards the Doctor, the astronaut making its way back into the lake. River pulled out a handheld device and checked for the alien's vitals.

"River, what's it saying?" Avalon knelt down beside the Doctor, "River?"

River put away the device after reading the device and took out her gun again. She was about to shoot when the gun was snatched off her hands by Avalon who then took to shooting at the astronaut herself, tears building up in her eyes and blurring her vision. Unfortunately, the gun ran out of ammunition and the astronaut was well inside the lake, slowly sinking back down.

"River, he _can't_ be dead. This is impossible," Amy sobbed.

River took back the gun from Avalon and cautiously turned her away from the lake, but not before she caught site of the mysterious figure silhouetted, "What the hell is going on?" Avalon gritted her teeth.

"Whatever that was, it killed him in the middle of his regeneration cycle," River answered, thinking she was asking about the Doctor, "His body was already dead. He didn't make it to the next one."

"No, I meant..." Avalon had looked back at River, blinking rapidly as she forgot once again.

"Maybe he's a clone or a duplicate or something," Lena offered, swallowing hard.

The man from the truck had made his way down to the group holding a gas tank that he set down on the sand, "I believe I can save you some time. That most certainly is the Doctor, and he is most certainly dead. He said you'd need this," he pointed at the tank.

"Gasoline?" Rory studied the tank with confusion.

"A Time Lord's body is a miracle. Even a dead one. There are whole empires out there who'd rip this world apart for just one cell," River sighed, "We can't leave him here. Or anywhere."

"But he can't die," Avalon's tears strolled down her cheeks as she dropped to her knees beside the Doctor's body. "Not him too, he can't..." Her hands shook as she hesitated to touch him. What if he was already cold? Cold like...like he was actually _dead_. She breathed in heavily. "He's the Fairy Tale Man, he's not allowed to."

"We're his friends. We do what the Doctor's friends always do," River picked up the gas tank, "As we're told."

"There's a boat," Rory saw one at the other end of the lake, "If we're going to do this...let's do it properly."

When night fell, the group watched from the shore of the lake as the Doctor's body burned in the boat Rory had brought from the other side of the lake. The man who had brought the gas tank stayed to help and also watched, and at one point River turned to him in question, "Who are you? Why did you come?"

"Same reason as you," he pulled out a blue-colored envelope from his pocket for her to see. River pulled out her own and looked between them as the man handed her his envelope, "Dr Song, Avalon, Amy, Lena, Rory. I'm Canton Everett Delaware III. I won't be seeing you again. But...you'll be seeing me," he picked up the gas tank and headed back for his truck.

River watched him go for a minute before glancing down at the envelopes and turning to the group, "Four," she said.

"Sorry, what?" Rory blinked, that just came out of the no where.

"The Doctor numbered the envelopes," River held both envelopes for them to see.

~ 0 ~

The group had returned to the diner where River continued her explanation, or theories, about the envelopes, "You got five," she pointed at Amy and Rory, "Mr. Delaware was six, Lena was four, I was three and Avalon was two."

"So?" Lena had to ask, she was all for education and whatnot but not after a makeshift funeral of her big brother.

"So where's _one_?" River tried making them see the obvious of the envelope's patterns.

"You think he invited someone else?" Rory was beginning to catch on.

"Well, he must have. He planned all of this to the last detail."

"Will you shut up? It doesn't matter," Amy muttered, stopping at a booth as she sulked.

"He was up to something," Lena began to realize as well, "But what? Avalon?" she looked at Avalon who was slightly ahead, distant as was expected, "She's thinking of Mum," Lena whispered to the others.

Avalon could be as brave and bold as she wanted but the one thing that would always defeat her was the topic of death. Her mother's death had scarred her, consequences as big as losing her hope in everything else. She was always afraid of losing people like that because that was the way she'd lost her mother and was constantly afraid she would lose Lena too because of her chronic illness.

"Space 1969, what did he mean?" River relayed for them to think on it with her.

"You're still talking, but it doesn't matter," Amy snapped at them, irritated they were pondering over stupid numbers when their friend had just died.

"Hey," Lena turned to Amy, softly speaking, "If it mattered to my big brother, then it matters to us all."

"He's dead, Lena," Amy shook her head, "Focus on your sister instead of numbers."

"He still needs us, though," Lena looked back at Avalon, happening to catch sight of a blue paper on a nearby table by Avalon, "Look," she rushed for it, holding up another blue-colored envelope with the number '1' in front.

As River ran for Lena, Rory turned to the counter where an employee was, "Excuse me, who was sitting over there?"

"Some guy."

"The Doctor knew he was going to his death, so he sent out messages," River was putting the pieces together, "When you know it's the end, who do you call?"

"Your friends," Lena quickly answered.

"People you trust," Rory rejoined them.

"Number one. Who did the Doctor trust the most?"

As if on cue, the back door of the diner opened and in came the Doctor with a straw in his mouth. While the entire group stared, stunned, he grinned and pointed at them like he hadn't expected it.

"Fairy Tale Man?" Avalon stepped forwards, her face completely dumbfounded.

"Hey! I saw what you did at Milan," he pointed at her with a frown on his face. "That was wrong and you're taking those clothes back."

Avalon blinked. "Wait... _what_?" she shook her head, "You arm this whole fiasco, tell me stupid things and then...you give us this? What the hell!" She slapped him across the face with all her might.

"Ava!" he stumbled back with a hand over his cheek, "What I do!?"

Avalon was furious and felt like going ahead and giving him more, "You _know_ what it was like to lose my Mum and yet you..." she couldn't even finish her words if she wanted to keep her tears inside. "...telling me to stay away from you..."

"Avalon," River tugged her away before she said something she shouldn't. Knowing the last the Doctor had been a future version allowed her to see much more than the rest of the group.

"How are you here?" Lena just had to ask, more than relieved to see him again but...he had just died and he didn't look anywhere near a ghost.

"I was invited. Date, map reference," the Doctor pointed to his envelope River still held, his other hand still rubbing over his cheek from Avalon's slap. "Same as you lot, I assume, otherwise it's a hell of a coincidence."

"River, what's going on?" Amy sighed. She wanted to go and hug the Doctor as well but she also felt like Avalon in which he needed to be slapped for what he'd done.

"Ask him what age he is," River looked at Avalon, the most affected out of all should get the clarification straight to the face.

"Why?" she shook her head, "I just want to keep slapping him."

The Doctor took a cautious step back for the ginger had quite some strength and he wouldn't like to feel it on his face anymore.

"Just do it," River gave Avalon a sharp look.

She sighed and turned to the Doctor, "How old are you?"

"That's a bit personal..."

"Answer the damn question or I'll slap you again on both sides," Avalon pointed.

"909!"

"That's..." Avalon looked at the others with confusion, "...the same age I left him with 3 days ago."

"Meaning...?" River forced her to keep putting the pieces of it together.

"You're..." Avalon had returned her eyes to the Doctor, "...we've been separated for three days?"

"Yeah," he nodded cautiously, "And I'll take the manipulator back before you hop into the future and take something there too."

"It was an accident," she mumbled quietly as she looked down at her clothes, for some reason wishing he'd compliment the clothes instead of reprimanding her like she'd initially expected.

"So is anyone going to tell me what are we all doing here?" the Doctor looked at the others, seeing them all sharing expressions of concerns and confusion.

"We've been recruited. Something to do with space, 1969, and a man called Canton Everett Delaware III," River explained seeing as the others were still getting it together.

"Recruited by who?"

"Someone who trusts you more than anybody else in the universe."

"And who's that?"

"Spoilers," River sighed, glancing at the others who gave a mere nod.

~ 0 ~

Once the group had returned to the TARDIS and given as much details as possible (without giving any spoilers) to the Doctor, he started rambling on about the year they'd chosen, "969, that's an easy one. Funny how some years are easy. Now, 1482, full of glitches. Now then, Canton Everett Delaware III, that was his name, yeah?" Amy couldn't take it and left for the stairs that would lead under the console, Lena right behind her, "How many of those can there be? Well, three, I suppose," the Doctor continued but noticed River leaving as well. He made a face and looked at Avalon and Rory, "Is everybody cross with me for some reason?"

"I'll find out," Rory pointed and headed off.

Avalon shook her head and moved to follow him, "C'mon, Ava, not you too," the Doctor called after her. She turned around, solemnly staring at him, "What did I do?"

Avalon got to thinking of the last Doctor they'd just seen a couple hours ago and knew that he hadn't been anything but sweet and nice, not one banter ever arose. She wondered if that had been an effort he'd made knowing he'd die. What other explanation was there? If you were to die, you'd repent of everything you'd done, including forgiving the annoying, sarcastic ginger woman he'd allowed into his home. And the fact that he had told her to stay away from him didn't help either. He sounded like it was a warning...and whenever she thought of warnings her mind rushed to that letter she'd gotten a year ago at Amy's and Rory's wedding reception.

"Ava?" the Doctor tried again, not daring to walk closer to her in case she fired another of her deadly slaps.

Avalon walked up to him and surprised him by hugging him. "I'm sorry," came her apology a minute later. She'd been so used to having him around and bantering that she never stopped for a minute to wonder what it would be like to lose him as well, "I'm so sorry for all my remarks, my crimes, I'm sorry. I'm really, really, sorry."

"Where's all this coming from?" the Doctor hugged back, even more concerned for all his friends. "Did you get another letter?"

"No," Avalon pulled away but didn't let him go. "You know that I consider this place and you the safest place I could be at, right?"

A smug smile came to the Doctor's face, making Avalon roll her eyes. "I do try my best!"

"Would you ever ask me to stay away from you?"

"No..." the Doctor looked at her strangely for her words, "...unless you had a pear in your hands."

A chuckle came to Avalon. "Right," she let go of him and stepped back. "Well, I just wanted you to know that I feel safe here, with you. Safe with my Fairy Tale Man. Safe."

The Doctor gave her another look for her repetition. "Ava, you know can tell me anything, right? Cos you remember what happens when you bottle it up, right?"

"Yeah."

"Is there something you want to tell me?"

"...no," she bit her lip, "I'm just reflecting, Fairy Tale Man. I know I have a poor attitude-"

"It's not bad, actually, it's a bit amusing..." the Doctor got to thinking and chuckled.

"I'm rude, though," she repeated what she always heard from everyone else.

"I see it more as you calling me out when I do stuff I'm not supposed to, or say things I'm not supposed to. I don't find that as a 'poor attitude'," but Avalon gave him a look for that, "Okay so maybe in the beginning I did think like that..." the Doctor corrected himself, "But that was before I got to know you better," he smiled, "Now I know that you like to take charge, you're very outspoken, and you do not like it when someone touches you hair."

"Someone's been paying attention," Avalon raised her eyebrows, though smiled in the end.

"Well, we have been traveling for about a year now," the Doctor shrugged, "It's only natural. But seriously, are you okay? Is there something else?" he took a step closer to her.

"No there isn't," she tried to argue and took a step back. She didn't want to somehow break and tell him everything she and the rest of the group had seen earlier.

"You are not a very good liar, do you know that?"

"I'm a very good liar, thank you very much," she made a mock-offended face.

"You're really not," the Doctor shook his head and moved up to her again, taking her head into his hands and looked her dead in the eye, "Because right now I can tell very easily that you cried, and I'd like to know why you're lying about it. What happened, Ava?"

"N-nothing..." she faltered under the Doctor's look.

"Avalon, pl-"

"Avalon," Lena finished coming up the stairs, startling them both, "Sorry...did I interrupt?" Lena sheepishly asked, noticing their closeness with intrigue.

"No, no, we were just talking," Avalon quickly turned to her sister, "What did you need?"

"Nothing," Lena eyed the troubled expression of the Doctor behind Avalon, "Nothing important anyways," she wasn't going to tell Avalon what River had explained to them a couple minutes ago...at least not in front of the Doctor, "So...1969?" she looked at the Doctor with a clean smile as the others began to come up the stairs behind her.

The Doctor turned to the console, seeing Avalon would keep her mouth shut about what ever troubled her and the others, "Time isn't a straight line, it's all bumpy-wumpy..." he began and made a round around the TARDIS, "There's loads of boring stuff, like Sundays and Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons. But now and then there are Saturdays, big temporal tipping points when anything's possible. The TARDIS can't resist them, she loves a party, so I give her 1969 and NASA, cos that's space in the '60s, and Canton Everett Delaware III, and this is where she's pointing," he pushed the scanner to the group and revealed a date.

"Washington DC, April 8th, 1969. So why haven't we landed?" Amy looked around as there had been no noise at all which meant the TARDIS had to be in flight at the moment.

"Because that's not where we're going," the Doctor shrugged.

"Where are we going, then?" Lena frowned, glancing back at River. The woman had made it clear that they should follow what the older Doctor had wanted to do, probably something truly important.

"Home! Well, you three are," the Doctor pointed to her and Amy and Rory, "I'm sure you father wants at least one of their daughter's home. You two," he looked at Amy and Rory, "Off you pop and make babies. Dr Song, back to prison," Me, I'm late for a biplane lesson in 1911, or it could be knitting. Knitting or biplanes, one or the other..." he flopped down on the chair and rubbed his forehead with irritation, "What? A mysterious summons? You think I'm just going to go? Who sent those messages? I know you know, I can see it in your faces," he stared at Avalon, " Don't play games with me. Don't ever, ever think you're capable of that."

Avalon frowned, "Don't you ever talk to _me_ like that."

"You're going to have to trust us this time," River spoke before the two got into an argument of some sorts.

"Trust _you_?" the Doctor nearly laughed as he stood up and walked over to her, "But first of all, Dr Song, just one thing... Who are you? You're someone from my future, getting that, but who? OK... Why are you in prison? Who did you kill? Hmm? Now, I love a bad girl, me, but trust you? Seriously?" He hadn't forgotten the warning he'd received from Octavian against her. For all he knew, the reason River was in prison was because she murdered Avalon! That thought alone made him shudder. He would _never_ let that happen. He'd rather die first!

"Trust us, then," Amy spoke up, putting an arm around Lena's shoulders.

"Okay," the Doctor turned for them.

"You have to do this, big brother, and you can't ask why," Lena swallowed hard.

"Are you being threatened?" the Doctor guessed as he looked between the two's faces, "Is someone making you say that?"

"No," they answered together.

"You're lying."

"They're not lying," Avalon sighed and cut in between them, "We promise, all of us."

"Swear to me, then," the Doctor challenged, "Swear to me on something that matters."

" _La Belle au bois dormant_ ," Avalon pronounced the title of her favorite fairytale - Sleeping Beauty - in perfect French contrary to her attempt the first time she'd heard it from him as a child, "By Charles Perrault."

The Doctor considered her very important story and nodded, "My life in your hands, Ava..."

"Thank you," she sincerely said, finally able to at least dimly smile.

"So, Canton Everett Delaware III!" the Doctor returned to the console to begin their research, "Who's he?"

As they started looking into the mysterious man, they began getting some small details of what could potentially be a problem. There was something about a private meeting Canton had with the president of the United States during 1969, Nixon, and it seemed all too interesting for a fired man to be called upon by the most powerful man in the world. The Doctor had resolved to bring the TARDIS somewhere near the meeting just to overhear some things and observe what was going on. Unfortunately for him, he stepped right in the middle of the Oval Office. It was a good thing he'd left the others inside the TARDIS, which was invisible and would keep them safe while he listened in on a very interesting phone call from a little girl pleading help to the president.

"Should we really allow him to go on his own out there?" Avalon stared hard at the shut doors of the TARDIS, "I mean, he's prone to get himself into trouble!"

"And we'll know," assured River who stood by the console, literally waiting for that to happen.

"I don't think it's right," Avalon declared and began pacing back and forth from the doorway to the console, "I mean, we just saw him die so we should do something to stop it and..."

"It's be a paradox, apparently," Amy rolled her eyes.

"I don't care!" Avalon exclaimed.

"What I said too," Amy nodded.

River shook her head, "We've been over this, and Avalon stop pacing, please. It's giving me a headache."

"I can't help it!"

"Ava, why not take a seat?" Rory offered, truthfully also tired of seeing her pace.

"I can't, I can't just sit down and pretend like I didn't see the Doctor die!" Avalon took a breath, her hand absently fiddling over the Doctor's watch on her wrist, "I can't do that, I don't want to..."

Lena hurried up to her twin and put her hands on Avalon's shoulders, "Breathe, Avalon, breathe. I know you're thinking of...Mum," she whispered the word, "But don't worry, okay? This isn't the same thing, it won't be," she assured, Avalon taking a moment to recollect herself.

After a moment, Avalon smiled, "Look at you, making _me_ feel better. He's your 'big brother'."

Lena smiled back and took her hands, "And he's your Fairy Tale Man, important to both of us and the rest. Plus, I think it's about time _I_ did something for you. You always made me feel better, and Gavin, when we were sad."

The moment was interrupted when the TARDIS took a great a shake, nearly knocking the entire group to the floor.

"What was that!?" Avalon rushed up to the console with Lena.

"Every time," River rolled her eyes as she connected some wires to the scanner.

"He said the scanner wouldn't work," Rory reminded with confusion as River worked.

"I know, bless!" she laughed as the scanner wires sparked and the screen came to life, showing the group how the Doctor was being tackled to the floor by the secret agents, his face pressed onto the carpet floor.

"Not that! Ow!" he cried, "River, have you got my scanner working yet?"

Oh, I hate him!" River shook her head.

"No, you don't!" called back the Doctor, probably assuming what the woman was going to say, "River, make her blue again!"

River went around the console flicking switches and pulling levers, succeeding in making the TARDIS visible outside, "Well, we better get out there before he does something else stupid," River headed for the doors with the others behind her.

As River was the first to step out of the TARDIS, she heard the Doctor coquettishly speaking to the agents, "...you think you can just shoot me?"

"They're Americans!" she reminded with a roll of her eyes, her hands in the air to show surrender.

As if that was the magical word, the Doctor stood up from the president's desk with his hands raised, "Don't shoot, definitely no shooting!"

"Don't shoot us either," Lena called as they walked out of the TARDIS, all their hands raised in surrender.

"Very much not in need of getting shot," Rory added and nodded to their raised hands, "Look, we've got our hands up."

"Who the hell are you?" President Nixon demanded while his agents kept him behind for 'safety'.

"Sir, you need to stay back," Canton Delaware instructed the man, but the mysterious group was just too much.

"But who, but who are they? What is that box?"

"It's a Police Box, can't you read?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, "I'm your new undercover agent, on loan from Scotland Yard. Code name, the Doctor. These are my top operatives, the Singer, the Legs, the Innocent, the Nose, and Mrs Robinson.

"I hate you," River rolled her eyes, meaning it for that one.

"No, you don't!"

"Who are you?" Nixon repeated his question and frankly expected to be answered properly this time.

"Boring question. Who's phoning you, that's interesting," the Doctor pointed out, "'Cause Canton Three is right, that was definitely a girl's voice. There's only one place in America she can be phoning from."

"Where?" Canton challenged the man's supposed intelligence.

"Do not engage with the intruder, Mr Delaware," one of the agents, Peterson, cut in.

"You heard everything I heard, it's simple enough. Give me five minutes, I'll explain," the Doctor assured as he took a seat back on the desk, "On the other hand, lay a finger on me, or my friends, and you'll never, ever know."

"How'd you get it in here?" Canton glanced back at the TARDIS, not at all frightened nor paranoid like the others, "I mean, you didn't carry it."

"Clever, eh?" the Doctor started smirking.

"Love it," Canton smiled.

"Do not compliment the intruder," Peterson repeated and steadied his gun on the Doctor.

"Five minutes?" Canton looked at the Doctor, slightly more inclined to accept than the others.

"Five," the Doctor agreed.

"Mr President, that man is a clear and present danger," Peterson tried to argue when Canton cut him off.

"Mr President, that man walked in here with a big blue box and three of his friends and that's the man he walked past. One of them's worth listening to. What say we give him five minutes, see if he delivers."

"Thanks, Canton!" the Doctor held a thumbs-up to the man.

"If he doesn't, I'll shoot him myself," Canton threw him a warning look that wiped the Doctor's smile.

"Not so thanks..."

"Sir, I cannot recommend..."

"Shut up, Mr Peterson," Nixon looked at Canton, "All right."

"Five minutes," Canton gave the Doctor a go.

"I'm going to need a SWAT team ready to mobilize, street level maps covering all of Florida, a pot of coffee, 12 jammy dodgers and a fez," the Doctor pointed all around the room with utter excitement.

"Get him his maps!" Canton told the other agents.

Later, the entire room was covered in street maps of all sizes with everyone looking at least one of them. Canton and the Doctor stood to one side of the room where the Doctor had a large map on a table in front of them.

"Why Florida?" Canton asked the question of everyone in the room.

"That's where NASA is. She mentioned a space man. NASA's where the space men live," the Doctor paused, "Also... there's another lead I'm following."

"Space Man?" Amy looked at River, both of them and Avalon close by with their own maps, "Like the one we saw at the lake."

"Maybe, probably," River shrugged.

"Please give us a concrete answer," Avalon sighed and looked up, "I know you know what to do but for the sake of timelines you don't say a word about it."

"I'm sorry," was all River had to say about it and returned to her map.

"Thanks for the help," Avalon muttered and turned away, facing the doorway of the room where she saw the same creature on the dunes of the lake, "You..." she immediately gritted her teeth, recalling her theory of those blasted creatures having to do with the Doctor's help. "I saw you..."

"Avalon?" Amy noticed the woman beginning to walk for the doorway, of course then SHE noticed the creature at the doorway, 'Oh my god," she quickly stood up from her seat, "Avalon!" she exclaimed and startled Avalon, as well getting the attention of everyone else in the room.

"Huh?" Avalon turned away from the doorway, blinking rapidly, feeling slightly odd again.

"What's going on?" Lena called from her spot with Rory.

"N-nothing..." Amy shook her head, feeling like an idiot for making a scene with no reason behind, "...funny," she put a hand on her stomach as she started feeling weird.

"Amy, you okay?" Avalon went back to Amy's side.

"Amy, what's wrong?" Rory, concerned, rushed to the women.

"You all right?" the Doctor had to stop and look at the ginger who did seem a bit pale.

"Yeah, no, I'm fine, I'm just...feeling a little sick," Amy assured the others and took a breath.

"Maybe we should get you to a toilet," Avalon suggested and led Amy towards the doorway again, "Excuse me, is there a toilet, or something?" she asked the agent, Peterson.

"Sorry, ma'am, during this procedure, you must remain within the Oval Office."

"Shut up and take them to the restroom," Canton rolled his eyes and waved for them to do as told.

"This way," another agent led the gingers into the hallway.

~ 0 ~

Upon reaching the restroom, Avalon led Amy inside and shooed away the agent that had tried to follow them in for 'safety' reasons. As soon as they entered, though, they saw the creature once again inside the room.

"I keep forgetting," Avalon blinked, once again recalling her previous seeings.

"I saw you before," Amy remembered the office's doorway, "But then I forgot..."

"It does that, apparently," Avalon frowned, "I saw you at their wedding reception. But I forgot. Now it's a year later and you're still here, and you were at the lake - are you following me or...?" she stepped towards the creature.

"Are you serious" Amy looked at her with surprise.

"At your reception, it told me something weird. Then ig was at the lake...and it was looking at me," Avalon gritted her teeth, this time keeping her gaze locked on the creature, "The Doctor died, and it was there again...and it was looking at me. Why!?" she nearly shouted it.

They heard a toilet flush and a blonde woman came out of a stall and headed for the sink, never noticing the creature standing behind.

"Get back! Stay back from it!" Amy waved the woman come over and away from the creature.

The woman turned for the creature and screamed before laughing, "Oh, my God, what is that, is that a mask? Is that a Star Trek thing? Ben, is that you?"

"It's not a joke," Avalon snapped, "Get back from it, now!"

The woman turned around to them, forgetting the creature, "Back from what, honey?"

"That!" Amy pointed behind and made the woman look back again.

"Oh, my God, look at that. Is that a Star Trek mask? Ben, that's gotta be you. Hang on, did I just say all that?"

"Please, just get over here," Avalon motioned.

"Back, honey? Back from what?" the woman had turned around again, Avalon groaning with frustration. The lights began flickering and so the woman looked around, "Oh, those lights. They never fix them."

"Look behind you!" Amy exclaimed, also growing irritated but was more afraid than Avalon.

"Honey, there is nothing..."

The creature reached out for the woman with its arm and mouth open. As the woman turned to look at the creature only to be shot with electricity and disintegrate.

"What the hell was that for?" Avalon snapped, "It's not like she was going to say anything, she couldn't even remember you!"

"How does that work? We can only remember you, while we're seeing you, is that it?" Amy put the pieces together as she took out her camera-phone, "Why did you have to kill her?"

"Joy. Her name was Joy," the creature spoke for the first time.

"Good, you know the name, that makes it better," Avalon rolled her eyes, "Now you answer us, why are you following us?"

"Your name is Avalon." Avalon stepped back when the creature pointed at her, "We have found you again..."

"You said that the last time..." Avalon recalled and felt a new pang of fear course through her.

"And your name is Amelia," the creature then pointed at Amy, "You will tell the Doctor."

"Tell him what?" Amy swallowed hard, still stunned it knew hers and Avalon's identity apparently.

"What he must know. And what he must never know."

"How do you know about that?"

"Know about what?" Avalon frowned.

"Tell him," the creature ordered and Amy pulled Avalon out the restroom.

The agent awaiting on the other side noticed the frantic expressions on their faces, "Are you OK?"

Both gingers looked at each with confusion, Avalon noticing the phone Amy held, "What's that?" she pointed at it.

"It's my phone," Amy blinked, unsure why she had it out.

"Well no duh it's your phone," Avalon rolled her eyes, "I meant why'd you have it out?"

"I have to tell the Doctor," Amy mumbled, something pushing her to talk to him even more now.

"Tell him what, ma'am?" the agent eyed both women with confusion.

"Sorry. I don't know why I said that..." Amy put away her phone and shook her head.

"This way..." the agent motioned for them to follow him.

"I feel like..." Avalon tried to say, something niggling in her mind but couldn't quite place her finger on it. She shook her head and forgot all about it as she went to follow the agent with Amy.

As they returned to the office, they saw the president going over to answer the ringing phone on his desk, the Doctor excitedly babbling on about the map he had in front of him.

"You, sir, are a genius," Canton praised the alien with impression.

"It's a hobby," the Doctor accepted it.

"Oi, instead of being cocky, focus on the phone call," Avalon pointed to the president who was awaiting instructions by the phone.

"Mr President, answer the phone," Canton turned to the president.

Nixon held up the phone and took the call, "Hello. This is President Nixon."

"It's here! The Space Man's here. It's gonna get me. It's gonna eat me!" cried the terrified, little girl through the line.

The Doctor urgently grabbed his jacket and ushered the group towards the TARDIS, "There's no time for a SWAT team, let's go! Mr President, tell her help's on the way. Canton, on no account follow me into this box and close the door behind you."

"What the hell are you doing?" Canton called and rushed after them. As the doors shut behind him, he came to a complete halt when he saw the room inside.

The Doctor had already begun preparing them for de-materialization and was explaining to the group the whereabouts of the little girl, "Jefferson isn't a girl's name, or her name either. Jefferson Adams Hamilton...

Avalon blinked, not expecting to be called upon, "Um...surnames of three of America's founding fathers?"

"Lovely fellas, two of them fancied me," the Doctor tried to joke with her but she was too engulfed in trying to keep the thoughts of his death out of her head, "The President asked the child two questions. Where and who are you? She was answering where. Now where would you find three big historical names in a row like that?"

"Where?" Amy asked then gave Avalon a discreet look from the Doctor. That ginger needed to get herself together or the Doctor would figure it out!

"Here! Come on!" the Doctor ran for the doors and was stopped by Canton who was still taking the mysterious box in.

"It's er..."

"Are you taking care of this?" the Doctor looked over to Rory, figuring it was true as they were together. Without an answer, he continued out the doors with the others.

" Where are we?" Lena crinkled her nose as they stepped out into a warehouse of some sort. It was dirty and messy and quite frankly, it had a unique smell of some sort.

The Doctor had gone up to a desk and plopped down, picking up a small American flag, "About five miles from Cape Kennedy Space Centre. It's 1969, the year of the Moon. Interesting, don't you think?"

As Amy turned on a flashlight, Avalon took a couple steps away from them to look through the clutter, "Why would a girl be here?" she made a face at how dirty some of the things were.

"I don't know. Lost, maybe," the Doctor tried to guess, eyeing River picking up the phone on the side of the desk, "The President asked where she was and she did what any lost little girl would do. She looked out the window," he stood up and gestured to the window, peering through the blinds to see the three street names in sight.

"Streets," Amy realized, "Of course, street names!"

"The only place in Florida - probably all of America - with those three street names on the same junction, and, Ava, you've got that face on again."

"Hm, what face?" she turned from the table she'd been looking through.

"The ' _he's hot when he's cleve_ r' face," he smirked.

"Oh, really?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, beginning to smirk back, "Well you've got that stunned face again cos I'm just too bloody gorgeous."

' _What_?' Amy mouthed to Lena and River, completely confused.

River just held up a hand to stop them from interrupting, a soft smile on her face as she looked over to the pair.

The two ended up laughing and the Doctor led Avalon away to explore. Over their travels, the people they'd met had started to assume they were a couple. To further the teases between each other they would make small remarks like that and would end up laughing like it was nothing.

"Egotistical Fairy Tale Man," Avalon playfully pushed him.

"Conceited singer," the Doctor countered.

River had went behind them and felt the need to point out an immediate danger. The last thing she wanted was for danger to harm them while they were distracted with their flirting, "You realize this is almost certainly a trap, of course."

"I noticed the phone, yes," the Doctor agreed.

"What about it?" Avalon looked back at River, curious what they knew.

"It was cut off. So how did the child phone from here?"

"OK. But why would anyone want to trap us?" Amy dreaded the answer as she knew it wouldn't be god at all.

"Don't know. Let's see if anyone tries to kill us, and work backwards," the Doctor declared and brought them into a new area of the warehouse where an operating table was located in.

"Now why would a little girl be here?" Lena blinked with horror, "What were they doing with her!?"

River moved up to the table and took a general observation of the instruments and components around, "It's non-terrestrial, definitely alien, probably not even from this time zone."

The Doctor was nearby some crates and was already rummaging through them, "Which is odd, because... look at this!"

"It's Earth tech, contemporary," River concluded.

"Very contemporary. Cutting edge. This is from the space program!"

"And aliens stole it?" Avalon guessed.

"Apparently," the Doctor popped on a space helmet over his head.

"Why? If you can make it to Earth, why steal technology that can barely make it to the moon?"

"Maybe cos it's cooler," the Doctor lofted the visor, ridiculously excited, "Look how cool this stuff is!"

Amy looked less than amused, "Cool aliens?"

"Well, what would you call me?"

"An alien," Avalon passively remarked as she moved for River.

"Oi!"

"That's not what your stories said," River nudged Avalon with a small smirk.

"Oh c'mon how did _you_ read my stories?" Avalon ignored her blush and pouted. River just winked with a laugh and returned to her work. Avalon huffed, but discreetly cast a glance towards the Doctor while he went to greet Canton and Rory. She blushed deeper and quickly looked away, focusing on whatever was in front of her.

Amy took the distraction of the Doctor with Canton and Rory to get closer to River, "River..."

"I know what you're thinking," River cut her off without even looking at her.

"No, you don't."

"You're thinking if we can find the Space Man in 1969, and neutralize it, then it won't be around in 2011 to kill the Doctor."

"So why aren't we looking harder?" Lena had been watching River work around the operating table with reluctance ans found it strange seeing how much River always claims she loves the thrill and danger.

"Because it doesn't work like that, Lena," River looked up at her, "We came here because of what we saw in the future. If we try and prevent the future from happening, we create a paradox."

"Time can be rewritten," Avalon turned for them, joining the conversation.

"Believe me, there are just some things that can't be rewritten, no matter how much you'd like to," River took a long breath and sadly looked back at the table components.

Amy was less than prone to believe all that, "Says who?"

"Who do you think?" River scoffed and followed a cable with her flashlight, coming up to a manhole cover, "What's this? Doctor! Look at this," she pushed the cover aside as the Doctor walked to her.

"So where does that go?" he watched her scan the hole.

"There's a network of tunnels running under here."

"Life signs?"

"No, nothing that's showing up," River put away her scanner and moved to climb down the hole.

"Those are the worst kind," the Doctor made a face, "Be careful."

"Careful?" River scoffed, "Tried that once, ever so dull."

"Maybe someone should come with you," Avalon offered, peering from the other side down to the darkness, "Never know what could be roaming there..."

"No!" River nearly yelled upon hearing the suggestion, managing to make Avalon jump on her spot, "You go search for there with Amy and Lena."

"But-"

"Go!"

Avalon blinked with surprise and anger, then headed off towards Amy and Lena, muttering certain things under hear breath. The Doctor watched her go with a sense of irritation, "You didn't have to be so rude about it," he scolded River, "She's already so..."

"She's not coming down here, you're supposed to be looking after her, remember?"

"How do you know about that?" the Doctor became suspicious.

"I'm from the future, how do I know about everything?" River rolled her eyes and laughed, resuming her climb down.

A while later, the Doctor had noticed the small incident and was about to go and talk to Avalon when River had popped out of the hole again, looking out of breath.

But just like that, she calmed, "All clear. Just tunnels, nothing down there I can see. Er, give me five minutes, I want to take another look round."

"Stupidly dangerous," the Doctor remarked to her.

"And your point would be...?" River smirked and went back down.

"Rory, would you mind going with her?" the Doctor turned to the human nearby.

Rory eyed the hole with distaste, "Yeah, a bit."

"Then I appreciate it all the more," the Doctor clapped Rory on the back and watched human sulky walk for the hole.

"Hang on, River, I'm coming too," poor Rory started climbing down the ladder.

Finally, the Doctor was able to go to the twins, deciding to start with Avalon on account of how strangely she was behaving today. While the ginger was sorting through a crate, he quietly moved closer to her from behind.

"If you try any of your little sneak-up-tactics on me I'll kick you right here and now," Avalon warned without looking back.

"How do you do that!?" the Doctor stood beside her with endless intrigue.

"Same way my mum caught me when I was kid," Avalon glanced at him, "I'm a woman, I've got eyes on the back of my head."

"Thinking a lot more of your mother today, you know," the Doctor tried to be casual about it, "Any...specific reasons..."

Avalon let go of what she was doing and turned to him, "It doesn't matter." She certainly wasn't going to tell him about the death she witnessed. "Just drop it, Doctor."

"I just want to help," the Doctor softly said, her snappish tone not at all offensive to him. It had been quite some time since she used that kind of tone with anyone. Something wasn't right and he needed to know in order to fix it and make her happy again.

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry," Avalon returned to her rummage through crates, preferring to occupy her mind with anything that wasn't his death at the lake. "I get moody sometimes. Nothing you can do anything about it."

"Hey," he reached for her hand, stopping her from moving away, "I'm the fairy-tale man, I can do anything, remember?"

Avalon looked at him for a minute, though once again saw him dying at the lake and had to look away before she teared up, "Not this time," she whispered and took her hand away.

The Doctor didn't like her reaction and was going to keep insisting when they heard the little girl calling from another room, "Help me!" she cried, "Help! Help me!"

Canton pulled out his gun, "It's her!" he rushed after the calls of the girl.

Avalon took off as well in an attempt to avoid further questioning from the Doctor. As Amy and Lena went to follow, Amy stopped and doubled over in pain.

"Amy!" Lena stopped beside the ginger while the Doctor ran to them.

"Amy? What's wrong?"

Amy supported herself between Lena and the Doctor, "I need to tell you something!" she looked at the Doctor.

"Doctor!" they heard Canton call.

"It's important. It's really, really important," Amy insisted.

"Doctor! Quickly!"

"What, now?" the Doctor pulled both women towards the calls of Canton, slightly worried he hadn't heard anything from Avalon for a good while. He found Canton on the floor of another section of the warehouse, unconscious, "Canton! Canton, are you OK?"

"Is he all right?" Lena looked around for her missing sister, "Avalon!" she called.

"Just unconscious. Got a proper whack though," the Doctor observed.

"Doctor, I need to tell you something," Amy kept insisting, taking the opportunity that Lena had gone for Avalon, "I have to tell you now!"

"Not a great moment, Amy," the Doctor gave her a sharp look.

"No, it's important, it has to be now!"

"Help! Help me!" they heard the little girl getting closer, "Help me!"

"Doctor... I'm pregnant," Amy finally said, leaving the Doctor more than surprised.

"It's the astronaut!" Avalon came running through, completely out of breath, Lena behind her, "It's the..."

The Doctor stood just as the astronaut came to sight behind the twins, "Here, now!" he ordered the twins and they quickly ran over.

"That's it," Amy realized, "The astronaut!"

The astronaut raised its hand, making Amy think it would attack. She turned for Canton's gun and missed the astronaut lifting it's visor to reveal she was the little girl calling for help.

"Help me!" the girl cried.

"Get down!" Amy ordered as she stood up with the gun.

Avalon realized what Amy intended to do, "No, Amy!"

"What are you doing!?" the Doctor's eyes widened as Amy turned, ready to shoot.

"Saving your life!" and Amy fired the gun at the astronaut, only seeing it was a little girl _after_ she'd fired.


	2. The Order of the Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three months have passed and the group learns that the Silence have been long-time residents of planet Earth. The Silence, in turn, seem to know Avalon and Amy more than the either girl would like. In the end when the Doctor has found a way to rid Earth of the Silence, he has a little talk with River Song concerning the warning he received a while back about Avalon. Would River actually hurt Avalon?

3 Months Later.

Avalon, Amy, and Canton sat inside a car parked outside an orphanage underneath a heavy rainstorm. Canton reached to turn off the radio and looked back at the two women, both dressed in black suits to pose as FBI Agents, Amy in the passenger seat and Avalon behind, "Ready, check?"

Avalon raised her palm and stared at it hard, rubbing a finger over it, "All clear..." she answered emotionless, "...and more than ready," she made sure to add.

Three months. Three months it had been since the last time they faced the little girl in the astronaut suit and because of its 'guardians' (the creatures who had the power to erase memories) they had to be on the run for that much time. Of course, it had been part of the plan between everyone. While all the companions were out in various states of America, gathering information of the creatures after the little girl, the Doctor would be 'locked up' in Area 51 with Canton looking over him and 'chasing' after the other companions. During that time Avalon had come across many, _many_ of the creatures...who all knew her, apparently. The small moments she could retain a conversation with them she'd demand to know how and why they knew her. Over and over she kept getting the response of their knowledge of her friends. That alone was a powerful motive for her to have a creature face to face and demand what they wanted. That was why she was there, standing in front of the orphanage with Amy and Canton, she needed answers and she was going to get them.

The Doctor had, had a plan to end the creatures' reign over the Earth, because that was what they were...they weren't just a simple tribe going for world domination, they had already _won_. They were the reigning species of the planet and it was time for the humans to finally remember and throw them off their planet. While he went to begin the plan, on the rocket-ship that would land on the Moon in just a couple hours, Avalon, Amy and Canton were to try and find the girl's 'home' and hopefully the girl herself. Meanwhile, Lena, River and Rory would remain in the TARDIS overlooking both parties should either get into trouble. Everyone in the group had nanorecorders inserted into their hands so communication would be easier, as well as a tool against the creatures who could evade their minds as soon as they looked away.

Avalon knocked on the front doors of the orphanage, impatiently groaning when she had to knock for the third time. Finally, a man, Dr. Renfrew opened the door but only slightly, "Hello," he greeted.

Canton held up his ID, "FBI. You must be Dr Renfrew. Can we come in?"

"The children are asleep," Renfrew seemed to be making an excuse.

"We'll be very quiet," Amy assured.

"Is there a problem?"

"It's about a missing child," Avalon noticed how nervous and simply...not quite there, type of stance the man had.

"What are you...? Yes, yes, come in, please."

Avalon pushed the door open and walked inside first, Renfrew quickly taking the lead. The trio observed the inside of the orphanage with distaste the further they walked inside. The entire building seemed on the brink of falling to the ground. What drew their attention most was the big, bright, red letters written on the walls 'GET OUT' and 'LEAVE NOW'. That didn't seem very welcoming for the children nor the adoptive parents.

"This way," Renfrew led them for the stairs, "Please excuse the writing. It keeps happening. I try to clean it up."

"Are the kids in some sort of arts and craft phase?" Avalon looked at the wall with the writing as they passed by, "They're the ones doing this, yes?"

"Yes. The children. It must be, yes."

"That doesn't sound very sure," Avalon whispered back to Amy who nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, my office is this way," Renfrew continued leading them up the stairs.

"We nearly didn't come to this place. I understood Graystark Hall was closed in '67," Canton was noticing the writing on Renfrew's wrist matching the same words on the wall.

"That's the plan, yes," Renfrew mumbled.

"The plan?" Amy caught the word with suspicion.

"Not long now."

"You do realize it's the year 1969, right?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, watching Renfrew freeze and look back.

"No, no. We close in '67. That's the plan, yes."

"I just said it's 1969 _now_!"

"Why are you saying that? Of course, it isn't."

"July," Avalon added, more than irritated she was being blatantly ignored.

"My office is this way, this way," Renfrew went off to a small stairway.

"We'll check upstairs," Amy whispered to Canton.

"Be careful," Canton nodded to the two gingers as they continued up the remaining steps.

~ 0 ~

Avalon pushed open a door in the upstairs hallway, leading Amy inside a disused dorm room with many bed frames on either side. Across from them were big, red words 'LEAVE ME ALONE' just like the stairway wall had.

"Well, then," Avalon breathed and walked further inside with her flashlight, "I think we came to the right place," she looked back at Amy who was already taking out her phone.

Amy nodded and spoke into her phone as soon as the line had been opened, "I think we've found the place she was taken from," she spoke to the Doctor.

"How do you know?" the Doctor was quick to ask.

"Cos those things have been here. But the whole place is deserted."

"There's just one guy here and we think he's lost it."

"We don't 'think' we _know_ ," Avalon made sure to clarify loud enough for the Doctor to hear.

"Repeated memory wipes fry your head eventually. Find out what you can, but don't hang around."

"Where are you?" Amy dared to ask, even Avalon dreading the answer.

"Gotta go!" the Doctor hurriedly said, "Got company!"

"...who are probably dressed in blue with guns," Avalon shook her head, "Idiot."

Amy laughed lightly, "Probably," she moved up to where Avalon stood in front of the words on the walls.

Soon after, the door slammed shut, making both turn to see what had caused it. They ran for the door to open it but Avalon had stopped in the center of the room, looking at her hands that now bore the tally-marks on the backs of it, signifying they'd seen the creatures again, "Amy!" she called, the other ginger turning and saw Avalon's hands, "...look at your hand, Amy," Avalon swallowed as Amy's palm flashed red, the nanorecorder having been used.

Amy pressed her palm and listened to her voice on the recorder, "I can see them, but I think they're asleep. Get out! Just get out!"

Avalon turned around for the window, gasping deeply when she saw her reflection on the window where her face was covered in tally marks, "There's a swarm, there has to be," she stumbled back, bumping into Amy.

Both women happened to look up to see exactly what Avalon had assumed, a swarm of the creatures up in the ceiling like bats as they hung upside-down. Amy accidentally knocked a pail as she tried moving backwards for the door, waking one of the creatures. Avalon raised her hand to leave herself a message when the door opened up on its own and unfortunately made both women look away from the creatures and forget all about them. As they left the room, the creature they'd woken up had stood in the middle of the room and watched them leave.

"Let's try this room," Avalon stopped by a second door and was about to open it when Amy spoke to thin air.

"Hello, who are you?"

Avalon turned and looked around, seeing nothing but walls and doors, "Amy? Who are you talking to?"

Amy went over to a new room where she'd literally just seen a woman with an eyepatch on it, like a hatch. Avalon sighed and followed Amy to the room she'd chosen, "Amy?"

Amy opened the door that led into a nursery, "Hello? I saw you, looking through the hatch..."

"Amy, there's no hatch here," Avalon stood at the door that was completely solid.

Amy frowned of confusion, she knew what she saw. Avalon left the doorway and came inside the room, "This place was just used," she remarked as she went over to the bed and picked up one of the stuffed animals, "They're in good condition and not dirty, look?"

Amy agreed and moved over to a bureau filled with different portraits of the little girl at various ages. However, she picked a certain portrait up and stared at it in disbelief, "How? How can that be me?"

"What is it?" Avalon set the stuffed animal down and headed for her but stopped at the sound of footsteps.

Upon both turning, they found the astronaut entering the room, "Who are you?" Amy immediately called, "We don't understand, so just tell me who you are!" the astronaut lifted its visor and revealed the little girl inside, the side of the inner visor cracked from the bullet Amy had fired at her, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shoot you. I'm glad I missed."

"But you killed the Doctor, or, you're going to kill him," Avalon sadly said, unable to be furious at a terrified, little girl for something that probably wasn't her fault, "You can't control that thing, can you?" she nodded to the spacesuit, "Cos you said...you said the spaceman was going to eat you..."

Amy realized what Avalon was trying to say and had to agree, "Oh my god..." she covered her mouth, "...the spaceman came and..."

"Please help me," the little girl begged, "Help me, please."

Without a thought, Avalon dashed to help the girl...when two of the creatures entered the room and slammed the door shut and headed for all three.

~ 0 ~

After hearing the screams of Avalon and Amy, and shooting one of the creatures, Canton ran up the stairs and hurried to the door from which Amy's voice was coming from, "Help me! Please, I can't, I can't see! Somebody help me!"

"Amy!" Canton tried breaking down the door, "Avalon! Can you hear me? I'm going to try to blow the lock. I need you to stand back."

Just as Canton raised his gun, the rest of the group had arrived, the Doctor quickly pushing the gun down, "Okay, gun down, I've got it!" Amy, Ava, we're here. Are you OK?" he used the sonic on the door and went inside.

"I can't see!" they heard Amy sobbing.

The Doctor rushed for the spacesuit laying on the floor while the others searched for the missing gingers.

"Where are they, Doctor?" Rory frowned when the room came up empty.

"They're not here," Lena gasped with realization.

"It's empty," River had raised the visor of the spacesuit while the Doctor used the sonic on it.

"It's dark, it's so dark. I don't know where I am," Amy's voice continued to be heard, "I don't think Avalon's here...please, can anybody hear me?"

The Doctor saw two nanorecorders laying on the floor, one still blinking red from where Amy's voice was coming from. Rory saw them as well and picked them up, "They took this out of them? How did they do that, Doctor?" his heart broke as he heard Amy crying through the recorder, still pleading for help, "Why can I still hear her?"

"And how come Avalon's isn't doing anything?" Lena took her sister's recorder and stared at it, hoping to at least get something that would tell her she was okay.

"Is it a recording?" River questioned while the Doctor used the sonic on the recorders.

"It defaults to live. This is current," the Doctor sighed, "Wherever Amy is right now, this is what she's saying."

"And Avalon?" Lena nearly teared up, "Why can't I hear her voice? Where is she?"

"Must be unconscious," the Doctor had to guess.

"Amy, can you hear me? We're coming for you. Wherever you are, we're coming, I swear," Rory had taken to talking to the recorder,t hinkg he'd be heard by Amy.

"She can't hear you. I'm so sorry. It's one way," the Doctor sadly informed him.

"She can always hear me, Doctor," Rory frowned, "Always, wherever she is. She always knows that I am coming for her, do you understand me? Always."

"Doctor, are you out there? Can you hear me?" Amy began questioning through the recorder, "Doctor? Oh, God. Please, please, Doctor, just get me out of this."

"He's coming. I'll bring him, I swear," Rory promised Amy and looked at Lena, putting an arm around her shoulders, "We'll find them," he assured her, the brunette beginning to sniffle the more she stared at Avalon's nanorecorder.

Renfrew appeared at the doorway, "Hello, is someone in there? Who? I think someone has been shot. I think we should help. We... I can't... I can't remember."

~ 0 ~

The Doctor and the others were led back to Renfrew's office where the creature Canton had shot was still on the floor, backing away once the Doctor had went for it, "OK. Who and what are you?" he got straight to the point as there was no time to waste.

"Silence, Doctor," the creature answered with ease, "We are the Silence," the Doctor recalled the previous mentions of that word through his travels, beginning with the day he regenerated, "And silence will fall."

~ 0 ~

Once the empty spacesuit was brought to the abandoned warehouse and set up on the operating table, the Doctor and River began examining it in hopes of gathering something of the Silence to help Avalon and Amy. Meanwhile, Lena and Rory stood to the side, both holding the nanorecorders in their hands.

"It's an exo-skeleton. Basically, life support. There's about 20 different kinds of alien tech in here," River gestured to several of the technology inside the spacesuit.

"Who was she? Why put her in here?" the Doctor still didn't understand what an entire species wanted with a little girl.

"Put this on, you don't even need to eat," River continued, as if to emphasize how powerful the the Silence were, "The suit processes sunlight directly. It's got built in weaponry and a communications system that can hack into anything."

"Including the telephone network?"

"Easily."

"Why phone the President?"

"It defaults to the highest authority it can find. The little girl gets frightened, the most powerful man on Earth gets a phone call," River shrugged, "The night terrors with a hotline to the White House," she saw the Doctor sniffing her invitation envelope, going as far as licking it, "I feel compelled to point out if Avalon were here she would've smacked you for that," the Doctor opened his mouth to argue but considered it and ended up shrugging with agreement, "Either way you won't learn anything from that envelope," River made sure to clarify.

"Purchased on Earth, perfectly ordinary stationery, TARDIS blue," the Doctor reviewed what he'd gotten from the envelope, "Summoned by a stranger who won't even show his face. That's a first for me. How about you?"

"Our lives are back to front. Your future's my past, your firsts are my lasts."

"Not really what I asked," the Doctor frowned.

"Ask something else then."

"What are the Silence doing? Raising a child?"

"Keeping her safe," River judged by the spacesuit's components, "Even giving her independence."

"The only way to save Avalon and Amy is to work out what the Silence are doing," the Doctor pointed at her as well as the others.

"We know," Rory sighed as he and Lena neared them.

"Every single thing we learn about them brings us a step closer."

"Yeah, Doctor, we get it, we know."

"Have we considered the fact that perhaps the little girl isn't so...normal?" Lena spoke up for the first time since they arrived at the warehouse.

"Well, I'd say she's human, going by the life support software," River informed them before they agreed with Lena.

"But?" the Doctor asked.

"She climbed out of this suit," River sighed, "Like she forced her way out. She must be incredibly strong."

"Incredibly strong and running away," the Doctor tilted his head, "I like her."

"We should be trying to find her."

"Yes, I know, but how?" the Doctor challenged, "Anyway, I have the strangest feeling she's going to find us."

"Why does it look like a NASA space suit?" Lena stared at the spacesuit with confusion.

"Because that's what the Silence do, baby sister," the Doctor pointed, "Think about it. They don't make anything themselves. They don't have to. They get other life forms to do it for them."

"So they're parasites then?" Lena guessed with irritation, "Is that why they took my sister? To put them to work or something?"

"I like the idea," the Doctor nodded, "But we can't be sure. You're right, though, they're like parasites, _super_ parasites more like it. Standing in the shadows of human history since the very beginning. We know they can influence human behavior any way they want. If they've been doing that on a global scale for thousands of years..."

"Then what?" Rory asked.

"Then why did the human race suddenly decide to go to the moon?" everyone looked over at a broadcasting television they had to the side, the Doctor continuing with the theory, "Because the Silence needed a space suit."

~ 0 ~

A while later Rory took a seat on the floor against crates with Amy's nanorecorder, Lena resided inside the TARIS with Avalon's recorder, while the Doctor and River worked on the spacesuit. The Doctor held River's handheld device and looked at the video Canton had recorded of the Silent and grinned with triumph. He shut the device off and turned to River just as they saw the spacesuit gloves twitching.

"This suit, it seems to be repairing itself. How is it doing that?" River blinked and stepped back from the suit, "Doctor, a unit like this, would it ever be able to move without an occupant?"

"Why?"

"Well, the little girl said the space man was coming to eat her. Maybe that's exactly what happened."

They heard the sounds of Amy from the nanrecorder from the crates, "I love you. I know you think it's him. I know you think it ought to be him. But it's not, it's you. And when I see you again, I'm going tell you properly, just to see your stupid face. My life was so boring before you just dropped out of the sky," Rory dropped his head after hearing that, dejectedly, "So just get your stupid face where I can see it. OK? OK?"

Quietly, the Doctor moved over to the crates and sat beside Rory, "She'll be safe for now. No point in a dead hostage."

"Can't you save her?" Rory asked, trying his best not to sound so impatient.

"I can track that signal back. Take us right to her and Avalon."

"Then why haven't you?"

"Because then what? I find them, and then what do I do? This isn't an alien invasion. They live here. This is their empire. This is kicking the Romans out of Rome."

"Rome fell," Rory sighed as he reminded the Doctor of the key fact.

"I know. I was there."

"So was I."

The Doctor agreed and remained quiet for a moment, "Personal question..."

"Seriously?" Rory raised an eyebrow, "You?"

"Do you ever remember it? 2,000 years, waiting for Amy? The Last Centurion?"

"No..."

The Doctor gave him a sharp look, "Are you lying?"

"Course I'm lying!"

"Course you are," the Doctor realized it was pretty stupid to believe Rory could actually forget such a thing, "Not the sort of thing anyone forgets."

"But I don't remember it all the time," Rory shrugged, "It's like there's… a door in my head. I can keep it shut."

"Please come and get me. Come and get me," Amy continued to sob from the recorder.

"Doctor?" they heard Lena call.

The Doctor turned for the brunette who stood at the doorway of the TARDIS with tears on her eyes as she held Avalon's nanorecorder in her hands, blinking red. He hurried towards Lena, looking between the now re-activated nanorecorder and her, "What...what-"

"She screamed, big brother," Lena sniffled, "Like a horror movie, she screamed and then...it went silent again," her voice cracked as she went inside the console room.

"Did she do or say anything?" the Doctor followed her inside, motioning to Rory and River to give them a moment.

"She was telling them to stay away from her," Lena said in the midst of her crying, "Then it went silent," she plopped down on the console chair, "I want her back!"

"We'll get her back, you'll see," the Doctor went over and hugged her, "I promise you we'll get her and Amy back."

"I believe you, don't worry," Lena pulled away and looked up at him, "I just hate that it's taking so long to see them again."

"Yeah, Ava's not going to be too happy about the wait," the Doctor tried to joke and get Lena to at least chuckle.

"No, she knows you're coming, I heard her say it," Lena held up the recorder in her palm, "She believes in you completely."

"Really?"

"You don't believe that, do you?" Lena raised an eyebrow, suddenly suspicious. She cleaned her face of her tears and set the recorder on her side, "A full year of traveling together and you still have doubts?"

"She's a bit sarcastic, you know," the Doctor tried to make an excuse, "Sometimes, it's a bit hard to know when she's being honest..."

"She wasn't like that as a child, you know," Lena sighed, "She had to learn to defend herself from the people in town. Being sarcastic just worked and it stuck with her, like a defense mechanism. But she trusts you completely, I swear. I know it was wrong to do so but..." she sheepishly smiled, "...I sort of read her short stories.

" _Lena_!" the Doctor blinked, never expecting to hear that from Lena, the most innocent woman he'd ever met.

"Amy was already reading them and when I caught her she sort got me too," Lena shook her head, "Please don't tell Avalon, she'll kill me!"

"She'd never," the Doctor chuckled and put an arm around her shoulders, "But, hey...since you happen to know about those famous stories, you wanna maybe...tell me, what's the big hullabaloo about them?"

Lena smiled softly, "They're...completely fairy-tale, just like her. She really cares about you, you're a lot more important to her than you think."

"How so?" the Doctor found himself a lot more curious than he ought to be about it.

"Your her fairy-tale man," Lena patted his arm and stood up, "And you'll rescue her just like always," she declared with 100% certainty.

~ 0 ~

Amy gasped and came to an awake on a tilted operating table, underneath a bright light, "Where am I? Where is this?"

One of the Silence nearby turned to face her, "You are Amelia Pond."

"You're ugly, has anyone mentioned that to you?" Amy rolled her eyes and saw Avalon on the right side of the room, "Avalon!" the other ginger woman was unconscious, her head lulled to the side, "Avalon! What did you do to her!?" she demanded from the Silence.

"Examined her," the Silence answered.

"Let me go right now!" Amy ordered a she struggled to free herself, her hands strapped down by metal cuffs of the table.

"We do you honor," the Silence corrected, "You will bring the Silence. But your part will soon be over."

"Whatever that means, you've made a big mistake bringing me here, because wait till you see what's coming for you now," Amy smirked and glanced at Avalon, "And that's just her after she wakes up," she nodded to Avalon.

"You have been here many days."

"No, we just got here," Amy shook her head, not about to believe them, "You just put us in here."

"Your memory is weak. You have been here many days."

"No. No, we can't have been," Amy insisted.

"You will sleep now. Sleep, like the girl," the Silence started nearing her.

"No! No! Get off me!"

"Sleep."

"No! No!"

The sounds of the TARDIS materializing stopped it all and the Silence turned to see the Doctor, River, Rory and Lena coming out of the box, the Doctor holding the portable television in his arms, "Oh! Interesting. Very Aickman Road, seen one of these before. Abandoned, wonder how that happened. Oh, well! I suppose I'm about to find out. Rory, River, keep one Silent in eyeshot at all times," he didn't mention Lena as the girl had already ran to her twin's side and tried freeing her, "Oh, hello, sorry. You're in the middle of something. Just had to say though, have you seen what's on the telly? Hello, Amy, you all right? Want to watch some television?" the Doctor set the television on the console, "Hope it doesn't wake up Avalon, poor girl doesn't get enough sleep. Although for your sakes..." he eyed the Silence, "...it might be interesting to watch her after she's been freed, "Ah, now, stay where you are. Because look at me, I'm confident. You want to watch that, me, when I'm confident. Oh, and this is my friend, River. Nice hair, clever, has own gun, and unlike me, she really doesn't mind shooting people. I shouldn't like that. But after what you've lot done...I'm gonna let it slide."

"Not that you could've stopped me," River gave him a sharp look, her tone not one you wanted to challenge. She looked at the Silence with a dark glare in her eyes, "Make a move towards any of us and I'll shoot you all down, make no mistake of that."

"Now maybe you could just listen a minute," the Doctor held a finger to the creatures, "Because all I really want to do is accept your total surrender, and then I'll let you go in peace. You've been interfering in human history for thousands of years. People have suffered and died. But what's the point in two hearts, if you can't be a bit forgiving now and then. Ooh! The Silence. You guys take that seriously, don't you? OK, you got me, I'm lying. I'm not really going to let you go that easily. Nice thought, but it's not Christmas. First," he turned on the television for them to see the broadcasting of the moon-landing, "You tell me about the girl. Who is she? Why is she important? What's she for?" none of the Silence answered and so the Doctor went on, "Guys, sorry. But you're way out of time. Now, come on, a bit of history for you. Aren't you proud, because you helped?" he pulled out the antennae from the television, "Do you know how many people are watching this live on the telly? Half a billion, and that's nothing, because the human race will spread out among the stars, you just watch them fly. Billions and billions of them, for billions and billions of years. And every single one of them, at some point in their lives, will look back at this man, taking that very first step, and they will never, ever forget it," he stopped and watched the screen for the moment and pulled out a phone, "But they'll forget this bit," he spoke into the phone, "Ready?" he received the go from Canton and so hung up, gesturing for them to watch the television. As the moon-landing unfolded, the scene changed to that of the wounded Silence repeating over and over for the humans to kill any Silence they saw, "And one whacking great kick up the backside for the Silence!" the Doctor cheered, "You just raised an army against yourself, "And now, for a thousand generations, you're going to be ordering them to destroy you every day. How fast can you run? Because today's the day the human race throw you off their planet," the Doctor leaned away as the Silence leader advanced on him, "They won't even know they're doing it. I think, quite possibly the word you're looking for right now is, "Oops!" Run! Guys, I mean _us_!" he turned to the group, hands flailing in the air, "Run!"

As soon as the Silence drew energy to shoot, River began firing on all of them just as she had promised. Meanwhile, the Doctor used his sonic to keep them back.

"We can't get them out!" Lena called to them as she and Rory still worked on the restrains of Avalon and Amy.

Avalon slowly blinked open her eyes, "Wha..."

"Go, just go!" Amy ordered Rory, seeing they were getting no where near close to freeing them.

"We are not leaving without you!" he snapped.

"Will you just get your stupid face out of here?!"

Rory stopped upon those words and looked at Amy with shock.

"Right, into the TARDIS, quickly!" River instructed as she kept her fire on the Silence.

The Doctor ran over and freed Amy then Avalon, "Don't let them build to full power!" he shouted to River as he rejoined her.

"I know. There's a reason why I'm shooting, dumbo!" River rolled her eyes and happened to see him using the sonic again, "What are you doing?"

"Helping!"

River scoffed, "You've got a screwdriver. Go build a cabinet!"

"That's _really_ rude!"

"Shut up and drive!" River pushed him for the TARDIS then noticed Lena struggled to walk Avalon towards the TARDIS, the ginger woman still half asleep, "Doctor!" she called again and pointed to the twins.

The Doctor hurried over and tried helping Lena when the amount of time made its presence and so he scooped Avalon up into his arms and took her and Lena back into the TARDIS. Once gone, River smirked and brought her gun to the fullest of powers, making a complete 360 spin, shooting the Silence dead. She finished and turned for the TARDIS to see Rory standing at the doorway, wearing a dumbfounded expression on the face, "No one saw that right?" River twirled her gun into its holster, "Bad influence and whatnot."

"So, what kind of doctor are you?" was all Rory could think of saying after seeing that.

"Archaeology," River pulled out her gun and fired at a Silence behind her without even looking, "Love a tomb," she smirked and entered the TARDIS.

~ 0 ~

River pushed the Doctor out of the way and started working the controls of the console. The Doctor frowned and tried taking control again, "You can let me fly it!"

"Yeah, and then that one over there is going to throw up with your style of piloting!" River nodded over to Avalon who sat on the stairs with Lena.

"I feel fine now," Avalon repeated for what seemed like the millionth time, "And I'm used to his terrible piloting."

"Yeah, she's fine," the Doctor agreed with a deeper frown.

"Why not instead of arguing you two make it back to the Whitehouse and explain to them what's gonna happen now?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, "Could be a lot more useful, you know."

With a huff from the Doctor, he let River fly the TARDIS to do as Avalon had suggested. They landed in the White House where the Doctor promptly explained to president Nixon how everything would be fine...well, sort of...or perhaps scared them a bit. He left the president and Canton with a hope that Canton could be reinstated into the FBI, after all he only wanted to get married. With that, he flew the TARDIS, he flew it that time, and brought River back to her cell.

He now stood in front of her cell, saying goodbye to her as this time (and as usual) she had helped him once again, "You know...you could come with us..." he offhandedly commented.

"I escape often enough, thank you. And I have a promise to live up to," River nodded, "You'll all understand, soon enough."

"Right," the Doctor ignored the last comment, never really putting much thought into her typical mystery puzzles. He turned and started heading for the TARDIS.

"Say bye to the others for me, please," River called, "And please do take care of them."

The Doctor stopped and considered something before nodding and turning around, "Really?"

"Hm?"

"You want them safe?"

"Yes, that's why I just said to take care of them," River shrugged, confused what he was going on about now.

"River, I know this goes against all the rules about time traveling, especially between us, but I feel compelled to tell you that I was once warned to keep a certain someone away from you or you'd hurt them."

"Oh..." River looked down, guessing which person was that 'certain someone' who should stay away from her.

"If I value that person's life, I should make sure you're far away from her, why?"

"Spoilers," River shrugged.

"I take it you know which one I'm talking about?"

"Avalon."

"Good, now I know I can't really trust you very well at the moment, haven't reached that point, but you could gather up some points if you tell me what to do about that warning?" the Doctor stepped towards her, "Should I really do that? Should I keep her away from you?"

River took a long breath before she looked up, "Yes, you should."

The Doctor was surprised she'd bluntly tell him to do that. He was expecting some sort of argument with shouts about it, something more than...just that.

"I'm telling you that someone told me to keep her away from you," the Doctor repeated, slightly irritated she didn't even care about it.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure I know who it was judging by the point of timeline you and she are in," River shrugged, "Keep her away from me, if you want. But I'm going to tell you right now that many people are going to be after her, I'm not the one you should worry about."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows, "Excuse me?"

"What you heard," River stepped back into her cell and closed the door, "You do what you have to do."

"Frankly, I'm a bit upset you don't even seem to care," the Doctor frowned, "How can you not care!? This is _Avalon_ we're talking about! What's the matter with you?"

"Sheesh, you're overreacting aren't you?" River tilted her head, a faint smirk on her face.

"No, I am not! This is something serious and you're acting like you could care less!"

"You, on the other hand, seem to care a lot _more_ ," River remarked with innocent eyes, "More than you probably know."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Look, I completely mean what I said," River sighed, "You do what you have to do to keep Avalon safe, no matter who you have to keep her away from."

The Doctor, solemnly, nodded and turned away, vowing to do just that.

~ 0 ~

Once back in the TARDIS, the Doctor worked quite fast to get away from Stormcage, "Rory, I'm going to need thermo couplings. The green ones and the blue ones."

"OK, hold on," Rory rushed for the corridors.

Since the twins were not in the room at the moment, the Doctor took chance and moved to Amy, "So..."

"So?"

"You're OK?"

"Fine. Head's a bit weird," Amy tapped the side of her head, "There's lots of stuff I can't quite remember."

"After effect of the Silence. Natural enough. That's not what I was asking," the Doctor clarified and looked around just in case anyone was around, "You told me you were pregnant."

"Yes," she nodded.

"Why?"

"Because I was. I thought I was. Turns out I wasn't," Amy placed her hands on her flat stomach with a smile.

"No. Why did you tell me?" the Doctor clarified and leaned on the console, crossing his arms.

"You're my friend. You're my best friend."

"Did you tell Rory?"

"No."

"Amy, why tell me and not Rory?"

"Why do you think?" Amy sighed and thought about it for a moment, "I traveled with you in this TARDIS for so long. All that time. If I was pregnant for some of it, wouldn't it have had an effect? I don't want to tell Rory, this baby might have three heads, or like a time head or something."

"What's a time head?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, amused.

"I don't know, but what if it had one?"

"A time head?"

Amy laughed of embarrassment, "Shut up, alright!" afterwards, the Doctor pointed to the corridors, making Amy realize they hadn't been speaking alone, "Oi! Stupid face."

"Er, yeah. Hello," Rory came out of the corridors with a small wave.

"Taking that away from you, if you're going to listen in all the time," Amy pointed at the recorder Rory had in his hand and was trying to hide from her.

"OK, that's a fair point. But you should've told me that you thought you were pregnant," Rory tried to make a valid argument, "I'm a nurse, I'm good with pregnancy."

Amy laughed, "Not, as it turns out, that good," she walked up and met him halfway, giving him a hug, "So can you stop being stupid?"

"Er, no. Never. I'm never, ever going to stop being stupid!" Rory shrugged and made her laugh again.

"So, this little girl, it's all about her. Who was she?" the Doctor wondered for a moment as he returned to the console, "Or we could just go off and have some adventures. Anyone in the mood for adventures? I am. You only live once."

At those words, Amy and Rory remembered the Doctor's death and kept quiet. While the Doctor had a pregnancy scan on Amy, which was confusingly switching from positive and negative, Lena came around from the second level rails, "I'm ready to go home now, big brother!" she called as Avalon emerged from the corridor upstairs.

"Do you have to leave so early, baby sister?" the Doctor pouted as she came down the stairs, "I was just telling Amy and Rory we could take an adventure."

"I'd love to but my dad is expecting me home," Lena shrugged, "Plus, I've made my choice about these travels," she smiled softly, "And I'm good where I am now, trust me."

"Oh c'mon, just _one_ little adventure? Give those sisterly bracelets another trip around?" the Doctor nodded to the matching bracelets Lena had gotten for her and Avalon as a Christmas present. "Show them off?"

Lena looked at her sister who also gave her a pleading look. She supposed just one trip wouldn't hurt anyone, "Well...alright," the others cheered which made her laugh, "But just one trip, big brother, alright? Only one."

"I swear," the Doctor raised a hand for his promise.

Lena clapped excitedly, "Well then, take us some where fantastic!" she pointed to the console.

"Can do," the Doctor nodded and quickly worked the controls while the humans clung on, wondering just where the Doctor would land them and how much trouble they'd be in soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	3. A Siren's Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor promised Lena a fantastic adventure but instead they get traitorous pirates and a killer Siren who has their friends under a spell.

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind when I said the trip should be fantastic," Lena huffed as a pirate, yes, a _pirate_ , held her against her will along with her twin, Amy and Rory while the Doctor was being forced along the plank of the pirate ship.

"Did you really think that would ever happen?" Avalon glanced at her with a less than surprised expression on her face.

"It was just a distress call and then the trip..."

As the Doctor had promised, he was going to take Lena on one trip with the others and just as he was about to pick a place, he got a distress call from a ship in the precise spot they were in. Only when they'd gotten on the ship, the Captain, Captain Avery, had told them they'd made no such call. Naturally, the entire group had gotten into trouble due to the Doctor's ' _charming_ ' behavior and were now about to watch the Doctor walk the plank first.

"I suppose that laughing like that is in the job description," the Doctor tried to lighten up the mood, "'Can you do the laugh?' Check. Grab yourself a parrot. Welcome aboard."

"Stocks are low. Only one barrel of water remains. We don't need three more empty bellies to fill," Captain Avery stood by the plank and kept the Doctor on the plank with the pistol he carried. He glanced back at the others, specifically the three women, "Take that doxy below to the galley," he had pointed to Lena, the smallest of the three women, "Set her to work. She won't need much feeding."

" _What_ did you just call my sister!?" Avalon nearly lunged at Avery for that comment if the other pirates hadn't kept her back. "Say that again! I dare you!"

"Um, a little help, guys?" Lena struggled with the pirate now leading her for a way below the decks of the ship, "Eek!" she squealed as she was pushed into the new room below.

"Lena!" the Doctor called and almost tried heading down the plank when Avery reminded him he still held the gun on him.

"If you're lucky you'll drown before the sharks can take a bite," Avery smirked, nodding for him to start walking the plank.

"If this is just because I'm a captain too, you shouldn't feel threatened," the Doctor pointed, "Your ship is much bigger than mine. And I don't have the cool boots. Or a hat, even."

"Time to go," Avery cocked the gun at him, eyes narrowing.

"A bit more laughter, guys?" the Doctor glanced back at the other pirates and his friends, feeling rather nervous now.

"Sorry if I find this unfunny," Avalon mock-glared at him, Amy and Rory nodding with agreement.

"We are done for..." Amy mumbled.

~ 0 ~

Lena was frightened inside the room she'd been forced into. She looked around and could barely see anything through the darkness that covered the place. She did, however, see a chest with shimmery parts and walked for it, wondering if there were something in there she could use to help her sister and friends. She came to the surprise of finding the chest chuck-full of swords. She took one out and tested the feel of it and noticed a long coat and a tricorne hanging on a peg ahead of her. She looked at the sword again and turned it over, recalling the small lessons she'd received from Avalon. Although those lessons had been for _fencing_ , with fencing swords...not an _actual_ sword.

_Well, if you don't do this everyone's going to die..._

Yes, the options were very limited here.

~ 0 ~

As the Doctor took a step on the plank he looked around the nearly empty ship and had to ask, "Where are the rest of the crew? This is a big ship. Big for five of you. I s'pose the rest of them are hiding some place," he pinched his nose, "And they're going to jump out and shout "boo"."

"Boo!" came Lena's cry that made everyone turn to look at her dressed in the pirate coat and hat she'd found, her sword aimed at Avery's throat.

"Lena!" Avalon yelled in utter shock that her sister was dressed like that and much more that she was holding a sword that could kill her, "What are you doing!?"

"Saving your life, sis, apparently," Lena shrugged and looked at Avery, "We'll see how it works out. Anyways, throw the gun down," Avery dropped his gun to the floor where Lena was able to kick it away from them, "The rest of you, on your knees."

"Lena..." the Doctor felt his hearts race at the danger Lena was putting herself in. One wrong move and it was, well...game over. It was a well known fact that she was the weakest of them all so he always tried shielding her more. And now here she was...swording pirates...

That was _not_ what a big brother was supposed to let happen.

"Put down the sword," Avery ordered Lena, although he didn't move from his spot as the sword was still puncturing his skin, "A sword could kill us all, girl."

"I don't want to, but you have my big brother walking the plank..." Lena swallowed, careful to show as much bravery as possible. She was scared out of her wits at the moment, her hands sweaty and her heart beating so fast it could possibly explode, "...don't suppose you want to forget this all happened and we can start over?" She dared to hope.

One of the pirates came after her with a wooden handle, "LENA!" Avalon shrieked and made her twin turn to see the pirate in time.

Lena turned around and was forced away from Avery. At the sight, the Doctor tried to intercede but was pushed away by Avery into the rigging.

"Stay away from her!" Avalon pleaded the pirates frantically.

"Don't hurt her!" Amy's voice overlapped with Avalon's and soon enough Rory began chiming in.

"She's sick!"

The group of pirates backed from Lena as she waved the sword to them. She remembered some of the tricks Avalon used to show her and she supposed Fencing could be similar to swordplay and decided to use the same tricks. Still, she was beginning to get cornered as there were simply more pirates than Lena's. She looked up for a way out and blinked as she the rigging.

Would she really...?

"Lena!" Avalon nearly had a heart attack as her sister swung through the air on a piece of rigging while swinging the sword.

Lena managed to cut one of the pirates on the hand before she landed on top of a barrel. The pirate dropped his weaponry and stared at his hand, "You have killed me," he declared and froze everyone in their places.

"I feel compelled to remind everyone that it is just a scratch," Lena looked at both parties nervously and rather guilty, "Still, I'm sorry..." Then she remembered why she just did a lot that crazy stuff and shook her head, "No, wait, I'm not. You tried killing us!" but she stared at the pirate she'd wounded until she broke from guilt, "Oh, sorry!"

"This is why she couldn't take fencing," Avalon reminded Amy and Rory, "She kept apologizing whenever the sword touched me."

"I thought I hurt you!" Lena exclaimed.

"It's just a scratch," Avalon called to the 'wounded' pirate, "But release me and I'll get all the blood out of you for nearly killing my sister!"

"It only takes one drop of blood for death to come," Abery informed her, "Your sister has killed one more of my men."

"With one scratch? Ooh, she should go to jail," Avalon rolled her eyes then realized what she said and called out to Lena before the girl was truly frightened, "You're not going to jail, Lena!"

Through the distraction, a pirate tried getting Lena so she swung out on the rope only to be caught and lose her sword in the air. In trying to reach it, Rory had his hand cut from the tip, a black spot appearing on his palm only seconds later.

"Doctor?" Rory tilted his head in confusion as he stared at his palm, "What's happening to me?"

"She can smell the blood on your skin. She's marked you for death," Avery said whilst he looked at the spot on the pirate Lena injured

"She?"

"A demon, out there in the ocean," Avery nodded to the ocean.

OK. Groovy. So not just pirates today," the Doctor made his way to Rory, "We've managed to bagsy a ship where there's a demon popping in. Very efficient. I mean if something's going to kill you, it's nice that it drops you a note to remind you."

"On what planet?" Avalon made a face but never received an answer as they heard a song slowly rising in volume.

"Quickly now. Block out the sound," a pirate ordered before covering their ears, everyone else following fast.

"What?" Lena looked at them utter confusion.

"The creature. She charms all her victims with that song," Avery explained then quickly covered his ears as well.

"Oh, great, so put my fingers in my ears," Rory rolled his eyes, "That's your plan? Doctor, come on let's go lets get back to the...back to the..." he stumbled around as he giggled shortly Herr and there.

"The music. It's working on him. Look," a pirate observed as Rory and the other bewitched pirate acted dopey.

"You are so beautiful," Rory had moved the Amy.

"What?" the ginger stared at him, thinking it was no time one for complements.

"You know, you should try dressing up as a pirate too. Cuddle me, shipmate!"

"Oh yeah there's something wrong with him," Avalon concluded with certainty, "Rory's never been that bright with flirting."

"Everything is totally brilliant isn't it? Look at these brilliant pirates," Rory walled to the group of pirates, studying like it was his first time seeing them, "Look at their brilliant beards. I'd like a beard. I'm going to grow a beard."

"You're not," Amy quickly said.

"The music turns them into fools," Avery watched the two loopy men with resignation.

"Oh, my God," Avalon was purely flabbergasted at the sight of her best friend, "Stop acting like a drunk! That's _my_ job!"

"No, it's really not," Amy shot her a sharp look for that.

The 'demon' Avery spoke about rose from the ocean bathed in a green glow and singing song that affected Rory and the pirate. Once seeing her, Rory tried moving for her but was kept back by Amy and Avalon. The wounded pirate walked towards the woman, a Siren, no one able to keep him away. As soon as he touched the Siren's hand he...disintegrated?

"I have to touch her," Rory broke free from Avalon's and Amy's grips, "Let me touch her."

Angrily, Amy pushed past him and marched up to the Siren, "Sorry, but he is spoken for!"

The Siren turned red and hissed at Amy, sending her flying across the deck to land harshly on the ground.

"Amy!" the Doctor ran over to help the ginger up, "Amy! Everybody into the hold!"

"C'mon, Rory!" Lena was helping Avalon bring Rory to the hold, all the other pirates gone done.

"Rory Williams!" Avalon turned the man around and slapped him hard across the face.

It seemed like the strength of the slap was enough to snap Rory out of the trance for a moment, "OW! AVA!" he glared at her while rubbing his cheek.

"Yeah, yeah, let's go!" Avalon pulled him towards the hole along with the others.

Once inside the Hold, the group splashed through the low level water as they hurried

"What is that thing?" Amy stopped a moment and looked at Rory, relieved to see he seemed to be looking slightly better.

"The legend. The siren. Many a merchant ship, laden with treasure has fallen prey to her. She's been hunting us ever since we were becalmed," Avery looked at his remaining crew, "Picking off the injured."

"Like a shark," a pirate made the lousy comparison, "A shark can smell blood."

"Oh yeah, a shark wearing a dress that's green and can sing, _exactly_ like a shark," Avalon rolled her eyes.

"The ship is cursed," Avery declared with slight irritation at the girl who didn't seem to take the situation seriously.

The Doctor, however, seemed to be on the same page with Avalon, "Yeah right. 'Cursed' is big with humans. Means bad things are happening but you can't be bothered to find an explanation."

"She's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," Rory started to slip back into the trance.

Amy raised an eyebrow at that and turned to him, "Actually I think you'll find she isn't," urgently, she looked at the Doctor, "We have to leave. Right now."

"That thing of yours really is a ship?" Avery asked the Doctor with hope. The thing was a box but if it could get them out of there them so be it!

"Well, it's not propelled by the wind," the Doctor shrugged.

"Show me. Weigh anchor. Make it sail!" Avery tool out his gun and aimed it at the Doctor again.

The Doctor groaned of exasperation, "And the gun's back. You're big on the gun thing aren't you? Freud would say you're compensating. Have you ever met Freud? No? Comfy sofa."

"Leave the cursed one, Captain," a pirate pointed at Rory, "The creature can have him."

"Yes, please," Rory nodded with a dazed smile, sounding almost like a child.

"We don't want the siren coming after us," Avery agreed with his crew.

"You're all a bunch of-" Avalon gave a short yelp when she felt something puncture her leg.

Another pirate, the same one that had proposed to leave Rory, cried out next. Both the ginger and the pirate lifted their legs with a leech on attached to their skin.

"Leeches! Ow!" Avalon cried and hopped onto a crate as did the others.

"Avalon..." with a shaky voice Lena called for her sister, guessing what was going to happen next.

"It's bitten me, I'm bleeding," the other pirate had pulled off the leech from his leg as did Avalon, and looked at his hand that bore the black spot.

"Same here," Avalon raised her hand and showed the black spot on her palm.

"She wants blood. Why does she want blood?" the Doctor looked between Avalon and the pirate.

"What were you saying about leaving the cursed ones behind?" Amy shot a look at the wounded pirate, "Sorry," she said to Avalon a moment later.

"It's alright," Avalon sighed and stared at her at her palm.

"It's OK. We're safe down here," the Doctor gestured to the room, "No 'curse' is getting through three solid inches of timber," But of course the Siren reappeared behind him, making him look back, "Ah. Hello again."

"Wow, that's a beautiful song..." Avalon blinked with a dazed smile similar to Rory's.

Lena hopped off the crate she was on and skipped her way to her sister, not about to let some Siren take her away. No one was able to stop the pirate from reaching towards the Siren. As soon as he touched her, he disintegrated.. The Doctor caught the hat the pirate left behind then hurriedly pushed Avalon and Rory out of the hold with Lena and Amy. As soon as everyone was out the Doctor locked the door with the sonic.

"So, safe?" Amy crossed her arms and nodded to Avalon and Rory who were still dazedly looking around.

"I have my good days and my bad days," the Doctor gave a small smile.

"How did she get in?" Lena looked at the locked door, "And more importantly, will she get out?"

He used the sonic on the hat to get some results, "The bilge water - she's using water like a portal, a door. She can materialize through a single drop. We need to go somewhere with no water."

"Well, thank God we're not in the middle of the ocean," Amy threw her hands in the air with exasperation while the Doctor simply put on the hat.

"Did you see her eyes?" Rory turned to Avalon, "Like crystal pools!"

"You are in enough trouble!" Amy pointed at Rory, deeply frowning, not that Rory seemed to notice.

"I liked her singing," Avalon raised her eyebrows and gasped, "I wanna sing like that!"

"The magazine!" Avery remembered, making everyone look at him.

"What?" Lena looked at the Doctor for some help.

"He means the armory where the powder's stored."

"It's dry as a bone," Avery promised.

"Good let's go, there," the Doctor motioned for them to start walking...only to have Avery pull out his gun on him.

"I give the orders!"

"Ah. Worried because I'm wearing a hat now?!" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, "Don't be! Nobody touch anything sharp!"

"Can I hear the singing again?" Avalon asked as Lena dragged her out behind the Doctor.

They came up to the armory room, a pirate taking out a ring of keys to open the door but he couldn't find the key, "The key, 'tis gone, Cap'n."

"How can it have gone?" Avery looked at the ring of keys with confusion.

The Doctor stepped up and pushed the door open, no lock on it, "Someone else had the same idea," he entered the room first and looked around for anything suspicious.

"Barricade the door," Avery ordered as soon as he entered the room, "Careful of that lantern! Every barrel is full of powder."

"Who's been sleeping in my gun room?" the Doctor questioned just as Avery heard a muffled cough coming from a barrel.

He walked over to the barrel and removed the lid, reaching a hand inside to pull out a young boy, "You fool. You fool, boy. What are you doing here?"

"Who is he?" one of the pirates asked as Avery set the boy down.

"What, he's not one of the crew?" the Doctor joked.

"No, he's my son," Avery stared down at the boy with a long sigh, "What in God's name possessed you, boy? Your mother will be searching for you," the boy looked down with silence, "When?"

"Last winter. Fever. She told me all about you. How you were a Captain in the Navy. An honorable man, she said. How I would be proud to know you. I've come to join your crew."

Avery shook his head, "I don't want you here."

"You can't send me back," his son countered, "It's too late. We're a hundred miles from home."

"It's dangerous here. There's a monster aboard. She leaves a mark on men's skin."

"The black spot?" the boy lifted his hand to show he wore the black spot on his palm, surprising the others.

~ 0 ~

A while later, the travelers had taken a seat on a bench, Avalon and Rory coming out of the Siren's trance and acting far more normal than earlier.

Avery walked over to them after having a talk with his son, Toby, "There's nothing wrong with the boy. He has no scars."

"Yep," the Doctor looked at them all with a sheepish smile, "Ignore my last theory."

"He has his good days and his bad days," Amy sighed and leaned back against the wall.

"It's not just blood. She's coming for all the sick and wounded. Like a hunter chooses the weakest animal."

"Then how come I've not been marked, hm?" Lena raised her clean palms for them to see.

"Don't even question it," Avalon pointed.

"Lena's not technically 'sick'," the Doctor went ahead and gave the explanation anyways, "She has a genetic mutation that makes her get sick more easily than anyone else, but she's not really 'ill'."

"Okay, so...he's got a fever," Lena looked at Toby, "And that's a proper illness."

"And the Siren knows it," the Doctor nodded, "Humans. second-rate. Damage too easily. It's only a matter of time before everyone gets bruised. My ship. it can sail us all away from here. You and me," he looked at Avery and stood up, "We fetch it. Let's go."

Avery pulled out his gun and aimed it at him again, "You're not the Captain here, remember?"

"If you keep doing that _I'll_ be the one to shoot you down," Avalon warned Avery, rolling her eyes with irritation, "And don't think I can't do it."

"Thank you Ava, but it's alright," the Doctor smiled at her.

Toby went to one of the barrels while no one looked and took off the lid from it, the song of the Siren quickly starting again with the Siren herself reaching through the water with her arms. The Doctor dashed for the barrel and shut it before the Siren could get through completely.

"The water's dangerous. That's how she gets through," Avery explained to Toby, realizing no one had gone over the rules with him of the Siren, "One touch of her hand and you're a dead man!"

"We're all cursed if we stay aboard!" one of the pirates grumbled.

"It's not a curse. Curse means game over. Curse means we're helpless," the Doctor wagged a finger, "We are not helpless! Captain, what's our next move?"

Avery draped a pendant on a rope over Toby's neck, "Wait with the boy," he instructed his crew.

"Captain we're all in danger here!"

"I said wait, and barricade the door after we've gone."

"Sure you want to go, big brother?" Lena stood up, feeling uneasy of this plan as she knew trouble was just bound to happen.

"We have to get Avalon, Rory and Toby away," the Doctor reminded her, "She's out there now, licking her lips, boiling a saucepan, grating cheese."

"Can you not...please?" Avalon crinkled her face at that.

"Sorry," the Doctor winced.

"But Lena's right, be careful," she sighed.

"Don't you worry, your fairy-tale man is on the case!"

"My what?"

"N-nothing," the Doctor quickly turned away, realizing he didn't actually know why he'd done so. That was certainly knew, "Off we go!" he said to Avery and headed for the doors.

"What was that about?" Avalon looked at the others with an amused smile, never receiving an answer to the obvious question.

~ 0 ~

A couple minutes later, the twins had gone to Toby's side while Rory apologized to Amy for his Siren-controlled words. Also, the other pirates seemed to be staying away from the boy and mumbling a conversation. Of course they realized what they were talking about when they started removing the barrels from the door to get out.

"What are you doing?" Lena frowned, "We're not supposed to leave the room."

"We're not staying here to mollycoddle the boy," one of them answered, "The Captain's gone soft, it's time for us to leave."

"No one's asking you to protect anyone, first of all," Avalon stood up with a hand on her hip, "Second of all, where the hell do you plan to go? I doubt there's a lifeboat somewhere around here and you can't exactly move this entire ship on your own."

"You were given orders to wait," Toby also stood up, "He's your Captain, a Naval Officer. You're honor-bound to do as he tells you."

"Honor-bound'?" one of the pirates scoffed, "Do you know what kind of ship this is? Do you know what your father does?"

"Don't you dare," Avalon stepped in front of the boy. One of the most valued things as a child was their image and thoughts of important people in their lives, especially a parent's.

"We sail under the black flag," the pirate continued, as if eager to ruin Toby's faith, "The Jolly Roger."

"Liar!" Toby shouted and lunged for the pirate but Avalon kept him back, "He's no wicked pirate!"

"Oh, you think so? I've seen your father gun down a thousand innocent men," the pirate turned to the other, "Get what treasure you can I'll meet you in the row boat."

"Oh, so there is an extra boat," Avalon mumbled to the side, distracted enough for Toby to slip out of her grip.

He snatched a nearby sword and pointed it at the pirate, "You're going to remain at your post."

"I am not playing games with you boy, you put that down," the pirate ordered.

"One more step and I'll use this, you blaggard!"

"You don't know how to fight with a cutlass, boy."

"Don't need to, do I?" Toby smirked and lunged forwards again, cutting the pirate he'd been arguing with on the had.

"Ah! No!" he turned his palm over now bearing the black spot, "You little swabber!"

"Congratulations. You made it to the menu," Avalon waved with her fingers, "My advise is you should stay in here, what do you think guys?" she looked at the others with a smirk.

"You scurvy ape!" the wounded pirate pulled out a gun on Toby.

"Don't shoot!" Rory jumped out of his spot, "The powder will blow and kill us all!"

The other pirate snatched the key from his wounded friend, "Mulligan, what are you doing?" the wounded pirate blinked as Mulligan left like nothing.

"No honor among pirates," Amy shook her head as the remaining pirate now hurriedly barricaded the door again.

"Let's put that down before anyone else gets hurt," Avalon took the sword from Toby then looked back at Amy and Lena, the remaining non-cursed in the room, "Not that there's a lot more..." she mumbled.

"Why don't we get that pendant cleaned up, huh?" Lena held a rag for Toby to use so the boy came back to the bench and started polishing the pendant.

Avalon put the sword somewhere it couldn't hurt anyone and returned to her spot beside her sister. She leaned against the wall and turned her hand over to see the black spot on her palm, taking a small sigh as she rubbed it.

"We'll fix it," Lena looked at her sadly, and frightened as was usual, "My big brother, hell fix it, like always."

"I'm not scared Lena," Avalon promised her with a small smile, "I mean, I was terrified for what you did earlier, but this?" she held her palm, "It's nothing compared to that."

"I only did that to save you all," Lena guiltily looked away, "Otherwise, the Doctor walks the plank and then you go after."

"It was stupidly dangerous," Avalon pointed, "Don't ever do something like that again, Lena. I don't want to explain to dad how I messed up and couldn't protect you again." Even though the other aborted timeline never happened, she could still remember how Lena died saving her. It was all her fault. If she had been paying more attention, she could've pushed Lena away to take the bullet Restac had meant for her.

"It's not your job to protect me Avalon," Lena moved closer and spoke quieter so they wouldn't be overheard by the others.

"Yes it is, your my sister, my twin. I've always been in charge of you-"

But the pounding of the doors cut off their conversation, "Amy!" the Doctor called, "Open the door!"

"Toby open the door!" they heard Avery calling as well.

The group looked at each other before hurrying to do the doors and take the barricade down. Once they opened up, the Doctor nearly trampled over them as he ran straight for Toby and took the pendant from his hands, breathing heavily on it as if to fog up the reflection. After a moment, he looked at Avery with a thumbs-up, the Captain clearly relaxing afterwards. And just like that, the Doctor bolted out the door again, calling something about breaking windows and whatnot. After several shattering sounds of glass, the Doctor and Avery returned to the armory room to explain what had happened and what was going to happen. The Siren apparently, did not emerge from water but instead any clear reflection hence the reason behind all the windows being broken. But now that the group knew what they had to do for the moment...they weren't so on-board with it.

"Just wait?" Rory blinked, thinking he'd heard wrong but by the looks the Doctor gave he had, unfortunately, heard correctly.

" _That's_ the master-plan?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, "We just _...wait?"_

"I'm sorry I couldn't come up with anything better, but-"

"What about the TARDIS?"

"It's been towed..."

"What?" Amy crossed her arms, "How so?"

"Sorry," the Doctor flashed a smile, "We might be stuck here for a while."

"How long are we supposed to wait?" Lena asked, not as irritated as the others.

"The sea is still calm, like a mirror. If you go out on deck she'll rise up and attack," Avery looked at the three affected to remind them this was ultimately the best chance they had.

"It's OK, though," the Doctor cut in as he saw Avalon about to remark again, "The calm won't last forever. When the wind picks up we'll all set sail."

"Until it does, you have to hide down here," Avery gestured to the place.

"Oh this is swell," Avalon huffed with her arms crossed, "You're not living up to your name," she looked at the Doctor.

"I have my good days and bad days," he raised his hands in surrender.

With that being said, the group organized themselves for some sleep on the floor. Although for Amy it didn't last very long as she woke up to several whispers. She looked around and saw the same woman with an eye patch over her eye, talking, before the same hatch shut again. Frightened, Amy left the place to get some air and stumbled across the Doctor in the Captain's cabin, where she found him staring at the windows in silence.

"Doctor?" she stepped forwards, confused what he was trying to do this time.

"Sssh!" he quickly waved her to be quiet while he kept his gaze on the windows.

"What can you see?"

"Feels like something's out there, staring straight at me," the Doctor focused for a moment more until they heard thunder crashing and the ship rocking, alerting a storm was coming for them, "Man the sails!"

~ 0 ~

Through the heavy thunderstorm, the entire group was out on the deck trying to keep the ship safe. Avery was holding the rigging while the Avalon, Lena, Amy and Rory went to the topside and the Doctor stood at the wheel.

"To the rigging, you dogs! Let go the sails. Avast ye!" Avery was crying out certain words like those that left the humans more than confused while they ran for the ropes holding the mainsail, "Put the bunt into the slack of the clews."

"What the hell is going on about!?" Avalon was making a face as she just listened.

"I swear he's making half this stuff up," Amy rolled her eyes.

"Oh, you know, we should make a phrase book to know the translation!" Lena exclaimed, genuinely wondering if it would be enough for them to understand.

"Toby!" Avery looked at the young boy, "Find my coat. My compass is inside it, boy! Heave ho you bilge rats."

"'Rats' was all I could hear," Rory informed and shook his head, knowing that would be pretty much all he would be getting.

As Toby ran back with Avery's coat, he nearly tripped and let a hidden crown Avery kept inside the joke, one that the Doctor told him was necessary to be thrown out or the Siren could come through it and take them. As soon as the crown was still on the floor, the Siren shot out from its clear reflection and immediately held her hand for Toby.

"Don't let her take you!" Avery yelled in horror, his stomach churning as Toby walked closer, "No!"

"Not again!" Lena severely struggled to keep Avalon from heading towards the Siren, Amy having the same problem with Rory now. Together, they stood in front of Avalon and Rory and blocked their way (as well as repeatedly pushed them away) from the Siren.

"No!" Avery shouted as Toby was disintegrated by the Siren. In haste, the Doctor snuck towards the crown and threw it out to sea, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Avery had broken down as he realized his son was gone due to his actions.

The Doctor turned around in anger, "You couldn't give up the gold could you? That's why you turned pirate! Your commission, your wife, your son. Just how much is that treasure worth to you man?"

Avalon looked up in her dazed condition and saw the main yardarm swinging for them, while Lena and Amy were still in front of her and Rory. She pushed the two women away in time to keep them in safety, unfortunately for her and Rory there was no time.

"No!" Lena saw her sister and Rory be knocked into the feisty ocean.

"Rory!" Amy cried as she and Lena ran to the side of the ship, the Doctor coming to join them a moment later.

"I can't see either of them!" Lena panicked as all the water folded over and over, no arms nor heads sticking out from it.

"I'm going in!" Amy declared as was able to swing over a leg before the Doctor yanked her away.

"They're drowning! You go in after them and you'll drown too!"

"But we have to do something!" Lena felt like throwing herself in as well, "Avalon doesn't know how to swim, remember? She's _dying_!"

"There's only one thing that can save them now," the Doctor looked back at a barrel, one he knew was full of water.

"What are you talking about!?" Amy frantically questioned, looking between him and the water hastily, there was no time for mysteries!"

"The siren, the siren wants them," he reminded her and Lena, "We have to release her!" he hurried for the barrel.

"Big brother, what are you going to do!?" Lena went after him but he got there earlier and snatched the lid of the barrel, releasing the Siren.

The Doctor looked up as the Siren floated in the air, "They're drowning! Go find them!" he pointed and breathed in relief as the Siren dove into the water.

"What did you do?" Lena blinked with wide eyes, terrified as the Siren disappeared through the water.

"If they stay in there, they'll die," the Doctor reminded.

"But she'll destroy them!"" Amy angrily ran up to them.

"That thing isn't just some ravenous hunter! It's intelligent. We can reason with it. And maybe, just maybe, they're still alive somewhere. We have to follow."

"Are you mad!?" Avery stood from his spot and stared at the Doctor with utter confusion.

"If we ever want to see them again, we have to let the siren take us," the Doctor irritably explained, tired of the looks he was receiving from all three, "We'll prick our fingers. All agreed?"

"Aye," Avery went first.

"Aye," Amy sighed, seeing no other alternative.

"Aye," Lena gave the Doctor a sharp look, "This better work!"

"Aye!" he cheered then went ahead and pricked everyone's fingers.

On cue, the Siren appeared with her song and reached for the three who were now happily going for her. A flash of light took them over and the next thing they knew they were waking up on a proper floor.

"Where are we?" Lena, confused, looked around at the solid, gray walls of what clearly looked like some sort of ship.

"We haven't moved. We're in exactly the same place as before," the Doctor could see Avery's ship through the windows in front of them.

"We're on a ghost ship," Avery couldn't find more to say than that.

"No, it's real. Space ship trapped in a temporal rift."

"How can two ships be in the same place?" Amy looked through the window as well and couldn't understand.

"Not the same. Two planes, two worlds, two cars parked in the same space. There are lots of different universes nested inside each other. Now and again they collide and you can step from one to the other."

"That did not make much sense," Lena felt sorry to say.

"Good, cos it's really not like that at all," the Doctor looked back at her with an amused smile, "Just thought it may help..."

"You want to try a different approach, then?"

The Doctor looked around and found a piece of metal that he decided to chuck at the window. It went right through the glass and landed on the deck of Avery's ship, "All the reflections have suddenly become gateways! Ever look in a mirror and think you're seeing a whole other world? Well, this time it's not an illusion."

A low beeping sound carried over to the spot the group was in, "The signal," Amy realized.

"Yes," the Doctor turned and started walking.

"That was the distress call?" Lena asked as they climbed up a staircase.

"Uh-huh," the Doctor nodded.

"There was a second ship here all the time..."

"And the Siren is on board," the Doctor judged by the low song of the Siren they could hear. He stopped in front of a door and unlocked it, surprised to see a desiccated body of an alien on the side. Avery pulled out his gun on the body, "Dead," the Doctor stopped him and walked towards the bridge of the ship. On the control chair there laid another dead alien.

"You were right, there was something staring at us the whole time," Amy walked up while looking out the windows of the bridge, Avery''s cabin being on the other side, "How long has this ship been marooned here?"

"Long enough for the Captain to have run out of grog," Avery pointed at the alien.

"So if that's the captain, what exactly is the siren?" Lena wondered if that was a good question and truthfully she was curious to know, especially since that thing had her sister now.

"Same as us. A stowaway," the Doctor was using his sonic on the corpse.

"She killed it?" Lena blinked rapidly with horror, "But she has our friends now! And my sister!"

"Human bacteria," the Doctor looked at his sonic as it gave the results.

"What?" Amy stepped towards him.

"A virus, from our planet. Airborne, travelling through the portal. That's what killed it," he nodded to the corpse and leaned on the panel, "Didn't get its jabs-" he suddenly lifted his hand with a crinkled face as he stared at his hand now covered in green slime, "Urghhh! Look."

"What is that?" Lena pointed at his hand with her nose crinkled at the sight.

"Sneeze! Alien bogies!" the Doctor fiercely shook his hand in an effort to get the slime off. And, when he found no results, he wiped it on Amy's coat then continued to walk out.

With a glare, Amy turned and went after him with Lena and Avery. They came across a new, white room with dozens of beds suspended from the ceiling, all carrying unconscious people. The Doctor walked ahead with the sonic out as he scanned the place.

"McGrath!" Avery stopped by a bed, "He's one of my men."

"And he's still breathing," Lena looked at the machine that strapped onto the man's neck. Meanwhile, the Doctor found rectangular discs that were full of information.

"My entire crew is here," Avery realized as he looked around, his eyes landing on his son across the room, "Toby!" he ran for the bed Toby laid on.

Amy turned to see Avery run and found Rory as well, "Rory!"

"Avalon!" Lena gasped at the sight of her ginger sister and dashed.

"The TARDIS!" the Doctor went across the room to the TARDIS and practically hugged the box with relief.

"We have to get them out of here," Avery looked at the others frantically, disliking the machines around his son.

"Wait!" the Doctor left the TARDIS and ran for Toby, using the sonic on him, "His fever's gone," he looked over at Rory and walked over.

"He looks so well," Amy breathed as she stared at Rory.

"So does Avalon," Lena agreed.

The Doctor sonicked both of them and blinked with surprise, "She's keeping them alive. Their brains are still active but all the cellular activity is suspended. It's not a curse. It's a tissue sample," he showed the others the discs, "Why get samples of people you are about to kill?"

"We need to get them out of here," Amy declared and started wrapping her arms around Rory to get him up, "Help me!"

The Doctor reached to undo the tube around Rory but an alarm stopped them along with the song of the Siren. Lena gasped as she saw the glowing green shade of the Siren coming from the doorway, "She's coming!"

The Doctor took them to a hiding place on the side of the room with Avery, all watching as the Siren approached Rory's bed and calmed the man down with her singing.

"Anesthetic," the Doctor whispered.

"What?" Avery frowned.

"The music. The song. So she anesthetizes people and then puts their bodies in stasis!"

When Avery saw the Siren going for Toby, he took out his gun and move out from their hiding place, ready to shoot her the moment she touched his son.

"Avery, no!" the Doctor called as Avery shot at the Siren.

Angry and red, the Siren turned for Avery menacingly. The Doctor ran for another part of the room to get the attention on him but ended up sneezing. At the sound, the Siren turned on him with fire between his hands.

"Whoa. Fire! That's new," the Doctor backed away, "What does fire do? Burn? Yes. Destroy? What else? Sterilise! I sneezed. I've brought germs in!" he pulled out a handkerchief and blew his nose into it, chucking it to the floor afterwards. The Siren shot the cloth instantaneously on the floor and destroyed the handkerchief.

"Amy..." Lena tried stopping the ginger but Amy shook her arm off and ran for Rory's side.

"Amy, stop!" the Doctor warned as the Siren went after her, "Don't touch him. Anesthetic, tissue sample, screen, sterile working conditions. Ignore all my previous theories!"

"Yeah, well, we stopped paying attention a while back," Amy shot him a mock-glare.

"You sound just like Avalon," he promptly pointed out. "And the Siren is not a killer at all," he tried to say fast as he watched the Siren near her, "She's a doctor!" Amy backed away to where Lena was, both watching the Siren return to her normal green glow, "This is an automated sick bay. It's teleporting everyone on board. The crew are dead and so the sick bay has had nothing to do. It's been looking after humanity whilst it's been idle. Look at her. A virtual doctor! Able to sterilise a whole room."

"Able to burn your face off," Lena reminded with a frown, "That's not very helpful."

"She's just an interface. Seeped through the joint between the planes. Broadcast in our world. Protean circuitry means she can change her form and become a human doctor for humans. Oh, sister you are good!"

"But then that means those machines aren't going to work for Avalon for much longer," Lena hurried to her sister's side, already seeing Avalon begin to fuss quietly, "We have to get them out of here..." Amy tried to reach for Rory but the Siren hissed at her in her red glow and made Amy step away.

"She won't let us take them," Avery sighed sadly.

"She's keeping them alive but she doesn't know how to heal them," the Doctor observed the patients.

"I'm his wife for God's sake!" Amy nearly teared up, "Why can't I touch him?"

"Tell her Amy," the Doctor suddenly got the idea, "Show her your ring," he held Amy's hand with her ring up to the Siren, "She may be virtual but she's intelligent. You can't do anything without her consent. Come on! Sophisticated girl like you, that must be somewhere in your core program."

"Look, he's very ill," Amy gestured to Rory, "OK, I just want to look after him. Why won't you let me near my husband!?"

The Siren held her hand to Amy, a ring of light forming around it. Confused, Amy looked at the Doctor for some help, "Consent form. Sign it. Put your hand in the light," he motioned, "Rory's sick. You have to take full responsibility."

"What about Avalon?" Lena cautiously moved closer to her sister, "Can I...check her out of this...hospital, whatever it is?"

"Of course you can," the Doctor smiled, "Look, show her your bracelets," he pointed at the twins matching bracelets on their wrists.

Amy put her hand through the ring and retrieved control of her husband. Afterwards, the Siren turned for Lena who was holding up Avalon's wrist as well as her own, "We're sisters, you have to give me consent too!" and thankfully, she received the ring of light as well, "Oh thank goodness that worked," Lena gave a smile at the Doctor and Amy, "I'm not brave," she announced and put her hand through the ring. The Siren disappeared as the consent was given.

As soon as the Siren was gone, Amy turned the power off Rory's machine. Rory gasped awake and started jerking as he tried to to breathe. The Doctor turned for the two in haste, "He can't breathe, turn it back on!"

Amy quickly turned the power back on and sighed. Lena looked between Rory and Avalon, in a stump, "They both went into the water, so...if I try to do that with Avalon-"

"I wouldn't," the Doctor cut her off before she was able to finish.

Avalon slowly opened her eyes, feeling her throat was on fire, "Oh, my..." she gasped, "...breathe!"

"The machine's failing now!" Lena grew frantic as her twin struggled to breathe properly, "The TARDIS..." she stared at the big, blue box with hope, "Works for any kind..."

"Where am I?" Rory slowly came to a slow awakening.

"Lena, if...if we did that..." the Doctor came to Lena while Amy explained the situation to Rory.

"It could save her, right?" Lena needed to hear the 'yes' now followed by the plan to get her inside.

"She was drowning..." the Doctor tried to be delicate about it, "...I don't think she would make it that far."

"No, don't say that," Lena's eyes teared up, "Please don't say that..."

"She was drowning like me," Rory managed to get their attention, "Meaning she can be saved like me," he looked at Amy in the eyes, "I'm a nurse, I can teach you how to save me."

"Hold on..." Amy saw where Rory was headed with and shook her head.

"We just have to be resuscitated," Rory could've shrugged if the situation wasn't so dire.

" _Just_?" Lena choked at the word.

"You've seen them do it loads of times in films. CPR. The kiss of life," Rory said to Amy with a small smile.

"Rory, this isn't a film, ok," Amy sighed, "There are two people, one that includes _you_ , who need attention now. What if we do it wrong?"

"You won't."

"OK, what if you don't come back to life? What if...?"

"I trust you, Amy," Rory assured.

"What about him?" Amy pointed to the Doctor, "I mean why do I have to be the one? Why do I have to save you?"

"Because I know you'll never give up," Rory smiled softly.

The Doctor pointed to Lena to be given a moment as he walked for Avery who looked after Toby, "We have to send this ship back into space. Imagine if the siren got ashore. She would have to process every injured human."

"What about Toby?"

"I'm sorry. Typhoid fever. Once he returns it's only a matter of time..."

"Wait a minute," Lena blinked, "Amy, look after Avalon," she ordered before she rushed to the Doctor and Avery, "Maybe there's another option for Toby," she started to smile, nearly smacking herself for not thinking about it earlier. This was really all on her since Avalon wasn't exactly in her right mind.

"Lena, it's Typhoid fever," the Doctor reminded, "Deadly illness..."

"Yeah, for the new humans," Lena glanced at Avery, "Sorry," she winced at her words, "I just meant, this illness, by the time it reaches New Earth it's mutated and cured...especially by those carrying the antibody in their genes..."

The Doctor's eyes widened as he looked at Avalon, "Oh..." he'd caught onto Lena's plan.

"Oh what?" Avery made the Doctor look back at them again, "What is it?"

"My sister and I, we're part of another type of human, in the future," Lena tried to explain with haste as she could hear some of Avalon's struggle for breath, "We carry antibodies for nearly all type of illnesses, including the one your son has," she pointed at Toby.

"Then do it, girl, help him!" Avery exclaimed.

"I can't..." Lena made a face then sighed, "...I'm sort of sick on that aspect, my genes are all messed up," Avery's face fell at those words, "But Avalon!" Lena quickly instigated the hope again, "She's not sick, she's in perfect condition! And I'm sure she'd be more than happy to help Toby after she's healed."

"Then heal her, _fast_ ," Avery nearly pushed the two back to the ginger now that he knew she was the only one who could possibly help Toby.

"C'mon," Lena pulled the Doctor back to Avalon and Rory.

"Someone do something..." Avalon was shaking her head, "...machines are useless, idiotic, stupid-"

"Temper, Ava," the Doctor hushed her.

"I'm _dying_!"

"CPR, that's all you need, yeah?"

"I'm dead," Avalon sighed, "No offence to Lena, but she's a bit of a nerve-wreck when it comes to that stuff...even when she was the one who needed CPR."

Lena smiled sheepishly at the look the Doctor gave her, "I told you," she tried to remind.

"Just...take care of her, okay?" Avalon shook the Doctor arms to get his attention again, "I don't care what happens to me, just bring her home and look after her, please."

"N-n-n-n-no, that's not gonna happen," he frowned, "I came with four friends and I am leaving with four friends," he looked between her and Rory, "So don't you get any ideas of dying!"

"We'll try our best," Rory assured with a roll of his eyes.

Avalon's breath hitched suddenly as it became harder to breathe, "Okay, dying now!" she exclaimed and put a hand on her chest.

"CPR is a two-person thing, Avalon," Lena frowned, "Remember that important detail?"

"Enough," the Doctor pulled down the ginger's hands, "Now here is the plan and I want all of you to listen," he pointed at the companions, "Rory, prepare yourself," he warned as he turned to Rory, "We're going to unhook you and Amy will begin CPR. And then you-" he pointed at Avalon, "-are _not_ going to die because then that would make me look awfully bad as the person who'll do CPR on you."

"Really?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, " _That's_ gonna be the awful part? How about me dyin-" but she received his hand over her mouth.

"Hush, not finished yet," he pointed to the machine Rory was hooked up to, "When Lena turns that off, Amy, you gotta start CPR immediately afterwards." Amy nodded fervently but the mere thought of doing CPR put her into panic. "Ow!" the Doctor jerked his hand away as soon as he felt teeth puncturing into his skin, "Piranha or human!?" he glared at Avalon, "You better not do that when I try CPR do you understand?" All he received was a very cheeky smile from Avalon that honestly made him reconsider the plan.

"Ready?" Lena stood by Rory's power machine. Amy and the Doctor stood with Rory, nodding for Lena to do it, "Go!" she switched the machine off.

Amy placed both of her hands over Rory's chest and started CPR. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" she repeated each time she waited for Rory to wake up.

"Someone better start with me or I might not let you disconnect this thing," Avalon gulped and glanced at the power machine beside her own bed.

"Okay, okay, you ready?" the Doctor moved for her bedside, preferring to leave Lena by Amy's side. He had full confidence Rory would wake up.

"No," Avalon eyed the coil of the tube around her neck, "What kind of stupid question is that?"

"I'm gonna let that pass because you're afraid," the Doctor pointed at her, "But you trust me, right?"

Avalon nodded, "Completely," she answered softly. The Doctor then reached for the machine when the woman grabbed him by the jacket and pulled him down, "But if I die, rest assure that I _will_ come back and haunt you for the rest of eternity."

As she let go, the Doctor nodded, gulping with a bit of fear, "And there's the Ava I know," he reached and shut off the machine, the ginger immediately gasping a final time before she went unconscious like Rory had.

Lena didn't know where to look anymore. On her right was Amy frantically pushing against Rory's chest, and on her left was the Doctor doing the same with Avalon. With each attempt that failed, both the Doctor and Amy grew more and more frantic, but they wouldn't stop. The few minutes seemed to last an eternity for all of them...until Rory sat upright to throw water from his mouth. A few seconds later, Avalon did the same.

"Ha! I did it!" Amy was proud to say, though the tears in her eyes reflected the terrible fear she just went through.

Avalon threw her arms around the Doctor's neck for a tight hug. "Oh my God, thank you!"

"Oh, one more thing," the Doctor pulled away, "We need you to cure Toby."

"Oh..." Avalon looked past him to the young boy laid on the bed with Avery standing on the side, "...right," she nodded and smiled again, "Thank you, fairy-tale man."

"You're welcome," he smiled back and pushed a lock of her ginger hair from her face, "I will always come to your rescue, sort of my job, you know." Avalon shook her head at him and got up from her bed to go see Toby.

"Can you really heal him?" Avery asked while he stared at his son.

"Watch me," Avalon pressed her hand to Toby's forehead, a great smile spreading across her face as her hand began glowing while she cured Toby.

~ 0 ~

"Well, thanks for the trip," Lena politely said to the group, though it was clear that if she had the chance to go back she probably wouldn't do it. She was getting ready to leave the TARDIS, with only the goodbyes left to do. "But I got to get back home. I don't think Dad and Gavin can make it on their own."

"Take care, Lena," Amy gave the woman a hug.

"I will," Lena moved on to hug Rory then the Doctor. "And please try not to get hurt so much."

"We can say that we will try our best," Rory gave the Doctor a glance afterwards, "Right, Doctor?"

The Doctor was clueless and merely smiled. "Sure, sure!"

"I feel terrible for leaving you alone like this," Avalon shook her head, "I shouldn't be, and I'm sorry I'm-"

"I'm not sorry," Lena cut in, shrugging nonchalantly, "I'm genuinely happy that you're finally doing something you want to do instead of taking care of me."

"How can you say that, Lena? I'm your big sister, I'm supposed to be looking after you..."

"That's just it, Avalon, you're my _sister_ ," Lena stepped closer to Avalon and took a long breath, deciding this was as good as any other time to finally tell her sister what she needed to hear. "And yes, I get it, we're sisters and we're always going to be looking after each other, but there's a limit. You, you Avalon, you go over the top. You're my _sister_ , _not_ my mother," Lena felt awful by the face Avalon was making at the mention of their mother, Emmelina, the subject still too raw to be talked about, "Mum looked after us, like her job commanded it to be so, but now she's gone, and there's no one left to do that job anymore. You're my sister, it is not your job to act like my mum, because you're not and you will never be that."

"Why are you telling me this?" Avalon's eyes teared up, making an effort not to take offense to the words being spoken to her by the one person she cared above all.

"Frankly, because I'm tired of it," Lena sighed, knowing that sounded a lot worse than she meant it to.

"Oh..." Avalon's voice cracked. "...right."

Lena looked past Avalon to the others. While they were sympathetic towards Avalon, they all agreed long ago that this was something Avalon needed to understand. "I'm tired of you always putting me before yourself, like I'm the most important thing in the world."

"Because you _are_ ," Avalon nodded but Lena cut in again.

"I'm not, the truth is I'm just a regular person like anyone else, only with a mutation in my genes, nothing more," Lena shrugged, "For twenty two years you've taken the role of my mother and I want it to stop, I _need_ it to stop. Because, one day I'm not going to be here-"

"Don't say that," Avalon frowned, "Don't every say th-"

"It's true, Avalon, one day I won't be here anymore," Lena smiled sadly, "And I don't want you to be so lost without me. I've heard what the months after my death were like for you."

"That Doctor has a mouth the size of a black hole," Avalon muttered, unaware of the mock-glare that was being thrown at her from behind by said man.

"I'm glad he told me, because it shows me how much of your life was dedicated to me. Avalon don't you see? I know you do, because you're smart. Your entire life was dedicated to me that when I was gone, you couldn't seem to find your place in this world. I don't want that for you, I never did."

"So what? You want me to stop caring for you? Stop trying to protect you?"

"I want you to have a life of your own," Lena said softly, "I don't want to keep living like this, I'm tired of it. Every waking moment you're always trying to take care of me, not caring how much you hurt yourself in the process. Stop focusing so much on me and discover who you are, apart from the caregiver," she gave Avalon a tight hug. "Please listen. I don't want to be protected anymore." Lena pulled away and offered her sister a kind smile before walking out of the TARDIS.

None of the group knew how to approach this type of situation. They didn't know whether the temperamental Avalon would make an appearance or perhaps the silent, snappy Avalon would strike an appearance...those two were quite the opposite sides and it was crucial to know which one they'd be dealing with in order to help.

"My own sister is tired of me," Avalon declared before making a hasty walk for the staircase.

"What - Ava!" Rory called and made a chase after her. "That's not what Lena said."

Avalon stopped by the staircase and threw everyone a look. "You heard everything. That's exactly what she said. Answer me honestly when I ask if I smother her."

"What?" Rory looked at the others, all agreeing that wouldn't be a good idea. No-"

"Answer me _honestly_ ," Avalon rose her voice which made them all wince again, "Do I smother her when she's around?"

"No, you don't," the Doctor answered quietly, "You're simply...overprotective, that's all. It's nothing bad but...it would be better for both of you if you tried fixing that."

"There shouldn't be anything wrong if I protect my twin with everything I've got," Avalon sniffled, "It's always been like that, ever since we were kids. I don't do it because it's a job, I do it because I love her, because she's my sister."

"It's just there's a boundary..." Amy trailed off when Avalon glared.

"Okay, c'mon," the Doctor took her by the hand and sat her down on the stairs with him sitting beside her, "Let me tell you a story, alright?"

"Do you really think this is the time, Fairy Tale Man? Sort of in the middle of something," she gestured to her face.

"You'll want to hear this, trust me," the Doctor assured. "Now this story, it takes place in the house of Amelia Pond." Amy playfully rolled her eyes at the mention of her name. "I met three little girls one night, and you know who I was most intrigued by?"

"Who?" Avalon went along with the story while she tried containing more of her tears inside.

"This little girl with big, red hair with the most responsible attitude I'd ever seen in a child. She called me stupid," the Doctor made a face that got Avalon to laugh, making him beam, "And she threatened me not to hurt her little sister...and for a long time, all I saw in that little girl was the protective sister who looked after the smaller girl with brown hair. You were a wonderful big sister, but you know when I saw you the happiest?"

"When?"

"When I started talking about those fairy tales and princesses with you," the Doctor smiled softly at her, "Your entire face just lit up," he laughed at the memory, "That was the split second I got a glimpse of _Avalon_ , not 'Lena's big sister'. And that's what Lena wants for you now,

"What Lena was trying to tell me in a nice way was to...get a life, basically," Avalon sighed and ran her hands through her hair, "And, honestly, that's not an easy thing for me. I suppose that's part of the reason I focus so much of my life on her. People don't really like me, everyone knows that," she shrugged, missing Rory's and Amy's sympathetic stares. "I'm not a nice person, I've gone to jail several times, well, dozens of times. People never want to be around that. It's always been hard for me to make friends apart from you guys and Mels."

"But you're not in Leadworth anymore," the Doctor reminded and stood up, reaching down for her hands, "And you know what? _I_ like you," she chuckled as he pulled her up, keeping hold of her hands.

"That was cheesy," Avalon couldn't help chuckle and since she did, it gave Amy the courage to agree.

"Oh yeah!"

The Doctor, on the other hand, frowned. "Hey!"

"I would just leave it," Rory told him.

The Doctor huffed, but inside he was happy to see Avalon's spirits lifted. Between the trio, they would make sure Avalon got a taste of a real life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	4. A Wife, a Baby and a Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor finally gets to meet his TARDIS in person...at the same time his biggest secret comes to light in front of Avalon. And why does the TARDIS keep calling them her 'thief and baby'?

Rory was listening to the Doctor tell some type of weird tale while they waited for Avalon and Amy to come into the room for the newest of their trips. Rory tried keeping up with the Doctor but the man was all over the place with this story. It had to be fake.

"...then we discovered it wasn't the robot king after all, it was the real one. Fortunately, I was able to re-attach the head."

Rory rolled his eyes and thankfully saw Amy coming by from the stairs. "Do you believe any of this stuff?"

"I was there," Amy muttered as she walked by, "And you can only imagine how terrified Lena was and how awed Avalon was."

"Oh, it's the warning lights," the Doctor turned to the controls and slapped it, forgetting about his tale, "I'm getting rid of those, they never stop!"

"Maybe instead of getting rid of them you should try seeing what they're alerting you of," Avalon strolled into the room from the downstairs hallway. "Might be important, just a note."

"Woah, what are you all dressed for?" Amy took notice of Avalon's clothing, "Seem preppier than usual," she smirked.

"Shut up," Avalon tugged on her pink skirt. She was dressed in a white, long-sleeved, horizontally striped blouse, tucked under a pink skirt and accompanied it with knee-length brown boots. Her hair had a thin headband with a thin ribbon bow on its side keeping her ginger locks out of her face.

"Ava, any specific reason for your clothing of today?" the Doctor asked with a genuine curiosity, blinking rapidly with a slight tint of pink on his cheeks. He shook his head fast and looked at the console, pushing away all those nonsense thoughts away.

"Hold on, hold on," Rory stood up from his chair and moved to Avalon, giving her a sharp look. It seemed like he was beginning to remember something. "Lena?"

"Yes," Avalon nodded.

"Yearly visit from the hospital?"

"Yes."

"Doctor Ian?"

"Aha."

"And let me guess, promised some type of visit to...?" Avalon fiddled with her fingers as she deferred the answer, making Rory frown, " _Ava_ ," he rose his voice.

"He said he was gonna show me the city!" Avalon exclaimed, though since her eyes kept darting to the side it told Rory there was more to it than she was giving.

"AVA-"

"It's a party!" Avalon exploded from all the questions and looks being thrown at her. She never liked how much power Rory had over her when it came to telling the truth. "And I'm not gonna miss it for the end of the world!" Avalon hurried over to the Doctor, "So I'm gonna need you to do all that coordinates and stuff, please."

"I am not taking you to a party," the Doctor flatly said. He knew exactly what that led to, thanks to Amy and Rory. "I've heard of your track record for parties, and I don't think so!" he tapped her nose, later wondering if he should have really done that.

"Rory _exaggerated_ ," Avalon shot her best friend a glare.

Rory crossed his arms and looked at the Doctor, seeming very much certain of what he had said. "Take it from the person who's bailed her out every time she was thrown in jail and picked her up after she was too drunk...I have _not_ exaggerated."

Avalon groaned, "Just take me home for the day! Ian promised and I intend to make sure it's followed through!"

"What is so important about this?" the Doctor had to question.

"I think you missed the whole party thing," Amy shook her head, "Woman loves a good party."

"I like to have fun, sue me," Avalon huffed.

"What, and I haven't provided enough _fun_ for you?" the Doctor found himself asking, or rather _demanding_ to know, and believed that to be a tad unnecessary. But still…he was fun, right? She always had fun when they were together…right?

Avalon took it as amusement and laughed, "Of course you have, but this is different. Look, Ian comes around once a year to check if everything is alright with Lena. The last time I saw him, I still wasn't 21 so I couldn't go anywhere. And then I came here with you so I've missed the opportunity. But I just called and Ian still offered to take me as he promised. It's important!"

At that moment, the group heard a knock on the TARDIS door, making everything go quiet while the Doctor whirled around for the doors.

"Hold on," Avalon shook her head, "Was that a _knock_?"

"I believe so..." the Doctor slowly walked for the doors.

"Right, but we are in deep space," Rory pointed out.

"Very, very deep," the Doctor nodded, hearing the second round of knocks.

"And you sure you want to open it when we're in deep space?" Avalon called, "Perhaps you should check the monitor to see what's waiting outside?"

"I thought you were all about the fun, Ava," he stopped at the doors and looked back at her with a smirk, "Why are you trying to ruin it?'

"Well because she's not stupid," Amy answered.

"Thank you," Avalon nodded, "Now get back here and check the-"

The Doctor opened the doors and ended that conversation. Waiting outside was a small box floating and glowing white, "Oh, come here. Come here, you scrumptious little beauty!" he reached for the box only for it to go whiz inside the TARDIS. It went around the room and made a turn back to him, hitting him in the chest and landing right into his hands.

"A box?!" Rory cried, getting over the small heart attack from the surprise box flying about.

"Doctor, what is it?" Amy wanted a closer look at the box but was still frightened it might try something again.

"I've got mail!" the Doctor exclaimed and walked back to the console.

"And you're excited because...?" Avalon wondered. If it was just random mail - _junk_ mail - what was so cool about it?

"Time Lord emergency messaging system," the Doctor corrected her thoughts, "In an emergency, we'd wrap up thoughts in psychic containers and send them through time and space. Anyway, there's a Time Lord out there, and it's one of the good ones!"

"But you said there were no other Time Lords left," Avalon reminded cautiously, really hoping he hadn't forgotten that important detail.

"There are no Time Lords left in the universe, but the universe isn't where we're going!" he chucked the box over to Amy for them to see. Amy still stared at the box with some degree of horror as if it would come back to life. "See that snake on it? The mark of the Corsair. Fantastic bloke. He had that snake as a tattoo in every regeneration," the Doctor started going around the console to start the box up, "Didn't feel like himself without the tattoo. Or herself, a couple of times. Ooh, she was a bad girl!" the TARDIS shook suddenly and nearly knocked them all to the floor.

"What's happening?!" Avalon cried as she held onto the console.

"You don't mind if I attend to this first instead of your little party trip, do you?"

"I guess not!"

"Good, because we're already leaving the universe!"

"How can you _leave_ the universe?" Rory incredulously stared at the Doctor while also holding on.

"With enormous difficulty! Right now I'm burning up TARDIS rooms to give us some welly," the Doctor flipped a couple switches, "Goodbye, swimming pool, goodbye scullery, sayonara, squash court seven!"

After several more jolts, the TARDIS finally stopped and allowed the group to gather their bearings.

"OK. OK," Rory looked at Amy and Avalon to make sure they were fine, "Where are we?"

"Outside the universe, where we've never, ever been," the Doctor smirked with pride...until the entire power wound down to a brim dim light.

"I don't suppose that's meant to happen...?" Avalon stared at the rotor that was nearly dark now.

"The power. It's draining," the Doctor breathed, stunned as he tried some of the controls, "Everything's draining! But it can't. That's... That's impossible."

"What is that?" Amy asked.

"It's as if the matrix, the soul of the TARDIS, has just vanished. Where would it go?"

"Well why don't we go and find out," Avalon rushed for the doors with the intention of opening them to see what laid on the other side.

"No, Ava! Don't!" Rory called after her, the ginger thankfully stopping as she reached for the doors.

"Really, Rory? The Doctor's just brought us to a place that's _outside_ the _universe_ , did you really expect me not to go run and find out what's out there?"

"I just don't want to get a call from outside the universe saying my best friend's been jailed," Rory sharply looked at her.

"Is it bad if I can see that already?" Amy barely managed to contain a laugh.

"Shut up," Avalon pointed at her, frowning, "Doctor?"

"Yeah, alright, c'mon," the Doctor hurried over, ignoring the calls of Rory who continued to be worried for his best friend.

Together, Avalon and the Doctor stepped out into a massively cluttered environment. It looked more like a dump than anything else. There were parts of all sizes from spaceships around as well as every day objects.

"So what kind of trouble's your friend in?" Avalon questioned distractedly as she moved around to the different piles of messes.

"He was in a bind, a bit of a pickle, sort of distressed," the Doctor tried to answer.

"Aw, you can't just say you don't know," Amy mocked a pout on her face as she and Rory stepped out.

"But what is this?" Rory made a face at the sight, not very impressed. "The scrap yard at the end of the universe?"

"Not end of, _outside_ of," the Doctor reminded.

"How we can we be outside the universe? The universe is everything."

The Doctor put an arm around Rory's shoulders whole he explained, "Imagine a great big soap bubble with one of those tiny little bubbles on the outside."

"OK."

Avalon rolled her eyes and turned around, hands on her hips, "And let me guess, it's nothing like that, is it?"

The Doctor pointed at her with a nod, "Exactly," he turned to the TARDIS and pit a hand on it, frowning at the sight, "Completely drained, look at her."

"I thought you said the TARDIS can refuel on rift energy," Avalon looked around, "And hello, energy right here," she gestured.

"Yeah, she'll probably refuel just by being here," the Doctor agreed and moved away from the TARDIS, "Now this place, what do we think, eh?" he picked up dirt and chucked it into the air, "Gravity's almost earth-normal, air's breathable, but it smells like..."

"Armpits," Amy finished with a sour face.

"That's the word I've been looking for!" Avalon laughed, Amy doing the same seconds later.

"Where did this stuff come from?" Rory wondered, seeing there were all kinds of clutter with no apparent pattern.

"There's a rift," the Doctor reminded, "Now and then, stuff gets sucked through it. Not a bubble, a plughole. The universe has a plughole and we've fallen down it."

"Thief! Thief! You're my thief!" A young woman, Idris, dressed in a tattered Victorian dress, ran straight for the Doctor.

"She's dangerous!" called another voice, that of an other woman, Auntie, "Guard yourselves!"

Rory quickly grabbed Amy and Avalon and pulled them behind as Idris reached the Doctor, "Look at you!" she gaped at his face, "Goodbye! No, not goodbye, what's the other one?" she grabbed the sides of his face and kissed him.

"Watch out! Careful, keep back from her!" another man, Uncle, helped Auntie get Idris away from the Doctor, "Welcome, strangers, lovely. Sorry about the mad person."

"Why am I a thief?" the Doctor frowned at the accusation, "What have I stolen?"

"Me. You're going to steal me," she got to thinking then shook her head, "No, you _have_ stolen me. You _are_ stealing me. Tenses are difficult, aren't they?"

"Oh, we are sorry, my dove. She's off her head," Auntie shook the Doctor's hand, "They call me Auntie."

"I'm Uncle," the other man gave a small wave, "I'm everybody's uncle. Just keep back from this one, she bites!"

"Do I? Excellent," Idris cheered then promptly bit into the Doctor's neck.

"Ow! No, ow, ow!" the Doctor cried as they pulled off Idris.

"Oh, biting's excellent!" Idris clapped excitedly, "It's like kissing, only there's a winner!"

"Sorry. She's doolally," Uncle apologetically smiled.

"I think it's bit worse than that," Avalon mumbled but was heard by Idris.

"Oh! My baby!" Idris clapped and ran off to Avalon, encasing her in a big hug.

"Someone get the crazy woman off me!" Avalon waved her hands to the others, her eyes wide with alarm at the thought of the woman trying to bite her next.

"Idris, no, no," Auntie removed Idris off Avalon.

"And what was that about a baby?" Avalon raised an eyebrow at Idris.

"Oh, you know? The little small creature you have to, you know...?" Idris mimicked rocking a baby in her arms but all anyone did was stare at her.

"Right..." For safety reasons, Avalon decided to take several steps away from her. "Is that TARDIS field up already?" And she flinched when Idris let out a loud laughter, as if teasing her, "Did I say something funny?"

And just like that, Idris stopped laughing and turned to the Doctor, "Now you're angry...or, no you're not," she got to thinking again, "You _will_ be angry," she pointed with a proud smile at her clarification, "The little boxes will make you angry."

"Sorry?" the Doctor stepped closer to her, alarmed at the coincidental use of 'boxes', "The little what? Boxes?"

"Your chin is hilarious!" She chuckled as she pinched his chin, once again stopping all of a sudden as she looked to Rory, "It means the smell of dust after rain."

"What does?" He raised an eyebrow, misunderstanding.

"Petrichor."

"But I didn't ask..."

"Not yet. But you will."

"No, Idris, I think you should have a rest," Auntie tried to reach for the woman again but Idris stepped off and looked around.

"Yes, yes, good idea!" Idris nodded, " I'll just see if there's an off switch," she dropped down to where Rory caught her, unconscious.

"Is that it?" Uncle questioned as Rory checked for vitals, "She dead now, so sad."

"Yeah, you really look like it," Amy noticed with distaste.

"She's still breathing," Rory concluded after a moment.

"Nephew, take Idris somewhere she can not bite people," Uncle ordered a near-coming Ood.

The Doctor turned to see the Ood coming around and smiled, "Oh, hello!"

Amy jumped at the sight and backed away, "Doctor, what is that?"

"It's all right. It's an Ood!" the Doctor walked over to the other alien, "Oods are good, love an Ood. Hello, Ood. Can't you talk?" he noticed the dim translator sphere, "Oh, I see, it's damaged. May I?" he opened the top half and started rewiring, "It might be on the wrong frequency."

"Nephew was broken when he came here. Why, he was half dead," Auntie shrugged, "House repaired him. House repaired all of us."

"I'm not sure that's the right word," Avalon mumbled and received an elbow on part of Rory who set down Idris, "Ow," she looked down at the scolding look he gave her, "Sorry," she mumbled with a frown.

As soon as the Doctor had finished with the translator sphere, a series of garbled messages were overheard by the group, " _If you are receiving this message, please help me. Send a signal to the High Council of the Time Lords on Gallifrey. Help! I'm still alive! I don't know where I am. I'm on some rock-like planet_ ," the Ood switched off the translator and left an air of awkwardness and tension around.

"What was that? Was that him?" Amy wondered as the Doctor turned to face them, rather confused himself.

"No, no, it's picking up something else. But that's... That's not possible," he mumbled to himself then looked at Auntie and Uncle, "That's... Who else is here? Tell me. Show me! Show me!"

"Just what you see. It's just the four of us, and the House," Auntie nodded, "Nephew, will you take Idris somewhere safe where she can't hurt nobody?" the Ood did as told and took Idris away from them.

"The House?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, "What's the House?"

"House is all around you, my sweets. You are standing on him," Auntie to the ground while Uncle jumped up and down for visuals, "This is the House. This world. Would you like to meet him?"

"Meet him!?" Rory quickly shook his head at the idea.

"I'd love to," the Doctor nodded at the two inhabitants.

"This way. Come, please. Come," Uncle led them away but the group remained back for a couple of moments.

"Something's wrong," Avalon crossed her arms, "He's making that face again," she said as the Doctor turned to them.

"What face?" he frowned.

"That one," she pointed.

"What were those voices?" Amy agreed with Avalon and asked the question they all had.

"Time Lords. It's not just the Corsair," he started backing away into the direction Auntie and Uncle had gone off to, "Somewhere close by there are lots and lots of... Time Lords!"

~ 0 ~

The group entered a cavern where the Doctor immediately ran to a grate and looked down into it. Meanwhile, Auntie and Uncle moved towards the grate, "Come. Come, come," Uncle motioned to the humans, "You can see the House and he can look at you and he..."

"I see," the Doctor still observed the grate, "This asteroid is sentient."

"We walk on his back, breathe his air," Auntie said, "Eat his food..."

"Smell its armpits," Amy mumbled, Avalon snickering quietly as they walked around.

"And do my will," the two stopped at the different voice that now overtook Auntie and Uncle, "You are most welcome, travelers."

"Let me guess," Avalon put her hands on her hips, "That would be 'House' we're now talking to? It's a bit creepy, you know, taking over a body...bodies."

"Yes," the Doctor looked up at the controlled pair, "So you're like a... sea urchin. Hard outer surface. That's the planet we're walking on. Big, squashy, oogly thing inside. That's you."

"That is correct, Time Lord," House answered.

"Ah! So you've met Time Lords before?"

"Many travelers have come through the rift, like Auntie and Uncle and Nephew. I repair them when they break."

"Someone should get him the definition of 'repair'," Avalon whispered to Amy and Rory, Rory giving a scolding look at her while Amy snickered quietly.

"So there are Time Lords here then?" the Doctor looked around the place in suspicion.

"Not any more," House replied, "But there have been many Tardises on my back in days gone by."

"Well, there won't be any more after us," the Doctor hopped off the grate, "Last Time Lord. Last TARDIS."

"A pity. Your people were so kind. Be here in safety, Doctor. Rest, feed, if you will," with that, House released the control over Auntie and Uncle.

"We're not actually going to stay here, are we?" Avalon asked him, already making faces, "No offence but this planet is a bit creepy..."

"It seems like a friendly planet," the Doctor tried to excuse his intentions and looked back Auntie and Uncle, "Literally. Mind if we poke around a bit?"

"You can look all you want. Go, look. House loves you," Auntie had cupped Amy's face with her hands, the Doctor noticing that one of the hands weren't exactly matching.

"Come on then, gang. We're just going to, erm... see the sights," the Doctor moved around the group and headed for the exit.

The others quickly followed into the tunnels where they could almost hear Idris shouting once again. The Doctor stopped in the middle of the tunnel and nearly made the others bump into him, "Sh, shh," he raised a finger as he listened.

"So what now, then?" Avalon moved around as she explored the tunnel, "I don't suppose we were actually going to 'see the sights'."

"You would suppose right," the Doctor nodded and began walking again.

"But as soon as the TARDIS is refueled, we go, yeah?" Rory tried to get them back on track, wanting to avoid trouble (if that was even possible).

"No. There are Time Lords here," the Doctor turned to them, "I heard them and they need me."

"You told me about your people," Amy reminded, never noticing him stiffen and tense, "And you told me what you did."

"What did he do?" came Avalon's innocent question of the hour. She then noticed the odd looks she was getting from Amy and Rory, and especially the guilty expression on the Doctor's face, "Hello, question asked and answer needed," she frowned at all the silence.

"Ava, I need a favor," the Doctor pointed at her, doing his best not to seem so...well, guilty.

"Like what?" she frowned again at the blatant ignorance she was getting for her question.

"I, um, need my screwdriver. I left it in the TARDIS, can you get it for me?"

"Are you gonna answer my question, then?"

"After you bring the screwdriver..."

"I'm holding you to that," Avalon warned and headed off.

"Are you kidding me?" was the first thing Amy had to say as soon as Avalon was out of hearing-distance, "You never told her what you did?" she raised an eyebrow at the Doctor who'd gone silent again.

"I _did_ tell her..." he said meekly, shifting under the irritated glare of the ginger, "...just, not all."

Rory was as stunned as Amy. "I don't get it, you told Lena. How did you get around that with Ava? _Why_ would you go around that?"

"I have my reasons, alright," the Doctor turned away from them, "Please don't tell her anything, that's all I ask."

"I'm sorry, have you _met_ Avalon Reynolds? She's not gonna let it go," Amy shook her head, "What exactly did you tell her, just curious to know."

The Doctor sighed, "Same thing, same story, there was a war, it all ended..."

" _How_ did it end?"

"...casualties, utter casualties from the war."

"Wait, so she thinks you just _happened_ to survive? That's not like Ava, she's smarter than that. And you are _kinder_ than that," Rory's voice of disapproval was affected the Doctor more than what he would've liked. It just added onto his guilt.

"Why would you do that?" Amy repeated the dire question, her anger fading once she saw the quiet, guilty behavior the Doctor wore, "You told all of us but not her?"

"She's different, leave it at that!"

Amy glanced at Rory with a knowing look, assuming there was a 'special' interest in their ginger friend the Doctor wasn't willing to yet admit. "Alright, just...tell us what to do because she's really not gonna stop asking," Amy sighed.

The Doctor looked back at them, genuine plead in his eyes, "Please just tell her something else, _please_."

"We will, but...sooner or later, you're going to have to tell her what really happened," Rory sadly said to the man.

"I pick later," the Doctor mumbled.

"Well in the meantime you think about how you're going to word your answer, and the _proper_ one," Amy clarified, "I'll buy you time by keeping her in the TARDIS. I assume the screwdriver was a ploy?"

"You would assume very right."

Amy rolled her eyes, "She's so gonna kill you later," she chucked her phone at him, "Stay out of trouble, Rory look after him," and she went off for the TARDIS.

"You should probably go because then Ava will try to kill her for attempting to distract her. Give me a call when you get there," the Doctor warned Rory who quickly nodded in agreement and hurried off. After being left alone, the Doctor took a breath and continued on his way, hoping to every deity he knew he could somehow defer the truth from Avalon. He just wasn't ready for her to know what he did and...

He shook his head, not even wanting to think about it.

~ 0 ~

As Avalon reached the TARDIS she realized she could be missing the truth being said back with her friends and so when she heard the calls of Amy and Rory nearing, she dashed to hide behind the TARDIS. She knew those two like the back of her hands, it would only be a matter of seconds until they started talking. She moved to the side and then carefully back to the doors and pressed an ear to listen in. But the sound of a lock went through her ear instead.

"Amy...Rory?" she called to them.

"Ava!?" Rory shouted, "What are you doing out there?"

"Being sneaky, what else?"

"Why'd you lock the door?" Amy added, sounding irritated.

"I didn't..." Avalon blinked with an idea, "...I _did_ ," she changed her declaration, "And I won't unlock it until one of you tells me what the Doctor did."

She heard Any scoff, and loudly, " _He_ has the screwdriver, stupid! _You_ didn't lock it."

"I'm gonna kill him," Avalon muttered, "Just tell me what he did!" she shouted to the others.

"It was...nothing," Rory came up with.

It was Avalon's turn to scoff, "Rory Williams the day you can lie will be the day of the apocalypse. Tell me what he did!"

"That's it, I'm calling the Doctor again," she heard Amy tell Rory.

Avalon growled with exasperation, a deep scowl forming on her face, "Ah, forget you two!" she turned and ran back the way she'd come from, determinant to know the oh-so-big-secret that fairy-tale man was hiding from her. Everyone else knew, why didn't she?

~ 0 ~

The Doctor had come across a small alcove in which he sensed there were more Time Lords, apparently, "Well, they can't all be in here," he frowned as he continued to hear more murmurs of voices from a cabinet. That certainly couldn't be right. He opened the cabinet and found it was full of more message boxes from which the voices were coming from. From behind, Auntie and Uncle slowly came in, "Just admiring your Time Lord distress signal collection," the Doctor bitterly remarked, "Nice job. Brilliant job. Really thought I had some friends here... but this is what the Ood translator picked up. Cries for help from the long dead," he tuned around, "How many Time Lords have you lured here, the way you lured me? And what happened to them all?"

"House, House is kind and he is wise," Auntie stuttered to say.

"House repairs you when you break. Yes, I know!" the Doctor snapped loudly, making the two flinch, "But how does he mend you?" he took out the sonic and used it on Uncle, "You have the eyes of a 20 year old."

"Thank you," Uncle smiled.

"I mean it literally. Your eyes are 30 years younger than you are," the Doctor pointed, going into a fit of angry rambles, "Your ears don't match, your right arm is two inches longer than your left, and how's your dancing, 'cause you've got two left feet. Patchwork people. You've been repaired and patched up so often, I doubt there's anything left of what used to be you," he put the sonic away and slapped Auntie's hand, "I had an umbrella like you once."

"Oh, now, it's been a great arm for me, this," Auntie held up her arm with a smile.

The Doctor stumbled back at the sight of the snake tattoo on her arm, "Corsair."

"He was a strapping big bloke, wasn't he, Uncle? Big fella," Auntie recalled with a chuckle, "I got the arm and then Uncle got the spine and the kidneys."

"Kidneys," the Doctor shook his head, "You gave me hope, and then you took it away. That's enough to make anyone dangerous. God knows what it will do to me! Basically... run!"

"Poor old Time Lord. Too late. House is too clever," Uncle mumbled and ran off after Auntie.

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair in frustration and anger and turned to leave when he saw Avalon standing at the threshold. Oh, he knew what kind of additional trouble there'd be now. "Ava..." he took a cautious step towards her. Avalon ignored it and came straight up to him and hugged him, "Oh-okay..." confused, he hugged back.

"I'm so sorry for their cruel trick," she whispered sincerely. The Doctor fell into the hug and stayed silent for the moment, "I still want to know what you really did, apparently," she felt him stiffen and sighed as she looked up at him, "What's going on, Fairy Tale Man?"

The Doctor looked at her and tried to will himself to tell her but simply couldn't.

Seeing she'd get nothing right now, Avalon stepped back with a frown, "By the way, Amy and Rory are pretty crossed for locking them in," she crossed her arms.

"I got their call," the Doctor nodded, speaking quietly.

"You were planning to lock me up with them too," she huffed, "To avoid my questions, right?" She rolled her eyes at his silence and turned for the doorway, "Sometimes you frustrate me so much!" She threw her hands in the air.

"A-Ava!" the Doctor rushed after her.

Avalon ignored his calls and strode down the tunnels, knowing exactly where they needed to go. The distressed Time Lord continued to call for her, making Avalon feel rather special for a moment. Served him right.

~ 0 ~

"Alright you visionary, how'd you know about the boxes?" Avalon demanded from Idris as she and the Doctor came up to the cell Idris was in.

"Ah, it's my thief," Idris stood from her seat inside her cell and walked up to the door, "And my baby!"

Avalon raised an eyebrow at the woman's choice of words, "Okay, I can understand why you call him a 'thief' but-"

However, the Doctor scoffed loudly and intervened, "This coming from the woman who holds one of _the_ biggest criminal records."

And then Avalon made a 'no talking' gesture with her hand, pressing her four index fingers over her thumb, "Sh! Avalon's talking," she flashed him a fake smile, "And Avalon is going to keep saying whatever she wants until her Fairy Tale Man decides to tell her the _truth_ ," she spat the last word with such attitude that even Idris winced for the Doctor.

"You know I bet the reason you don't know his big ole secret is because maybe you're special to him," Idris shrugged casually, smirking at the reactions of the Doctor.

"Yeah, _or_..." Avalon walked away from the Doctor with her hands on her hips, "...and I'm pretty sure this is the winning theory," she turned to face the man, now standing across him in the room, "The truth is he just doesn't trust me like he trusts everyone else."

"That is _not_ true," the Doctor began to argue back, offended she'd think that despite all their time traveling together.

"Then _prove_ it!" Avalon snapped, storming right up to him, "What did you do?" she demanded when they were face to face, nearly nose to nose in reality.

Idris sadly watched as the Doctor once again had that internal struggle to speak the words he had used with the others. Avalon just had no idea of the reason why _she_ precisely was being kept away from the truth. It was actually rather sweet, (if you knew the reason, though). Idris could understand where Avalon was coming from based on her point of view.

"That's what I thought," Avalon sighed and stepped back from the Doctor.

"Ava, it's complicated," he began, but she shook her head and turned to face Idris.

"I tell you everything and this is what I get from you. I'm honestly disappointed, fairy-tale man," she moved up to the cell door of Idris's, unable to see the hurt etched onto the Doctor's face.

"What are you doing?" Idris questioned as Avalon took out a pin from her hair and stuck it into the lock.

"Avalon, we should wait..." the Doctor tried to stop her.

"No, you know she's the only one who can give you some answers. Therefore, we have to get her out."

"But we don't even know who she is!"

"Oi, how do you not know me?" Idris frowned, "Just because they put me in here?"

"They said you were dangerous," the Doctor soared her a glance as he tried backing Avalon away from the door.

"Not the cage, stupid. In here," Idris put her hands on her face, "They put me in here. I'm the..." she paused, "Oh, what do you call me? We travel. I go..."

At the sounds of the TARDIS wheezing, both Avalon and the Doctor froze and looked up at the woman inside the cell.

"The TARDIS?" the Doctor tilted his head.

Idris nodded joyfully, "Time and relative dimension in space. Yes, that's it. Names are funny. It's me! I'm the TARDIS."

"No way..." Avalon breathed and immediately looked up at the Doctor, "What are you going to do now?"

"No!" he exclaimed at her, still unable to believe such a thing. He stared at Idris and shook his head, "You're not! You're a bitey, mad lady. The TARDIS is up and downy stuff in a big blue box."

"What the hell does 'up and downy stuff' even mean?" Avalon made a face.

"Shut up!" she received his hand over her mouth, "You're not..." he looked at Idris up and down repeatedly, "...big, blue box?"

"Yes, that's me," Idris assured in amusement as she stared at the pair, "A type 40 TARDIS. I was already a museum piece, when you were young, and the first time you touched my console you said..."

"I said you were the most beautiful thing I had ever known," the Doctor remembered with a small smile, of course that all ended when Avalon bit into his palm with all her might, "OW!"

"When will you learn that, that will never end well for you?" she crossed her arms arms and frowned, "I've bitten the policemen arresting me, _you_ are far easier."

"You are-"

"-you better watch those words Fairy Tale Man," Avalon warned as she stepped closer to him, her eyes narrowing, "Because the territory you step on with me is _very_ thin as it is," at that, the Doctor shut his mouth and turned away, missing the wide smirk on Avalon's face. With triumph, she turned to Idris and continued to work on the lock, "So, you're the TARDIS?" Idris nodded, "As in the box that idiot over there decided to steal?"

"I borrowed her!" the Doctor argued with a violent finger pointed at Avalon.

"Borrowing implies the eventual intention to return the thing that was taken," Idris cut in before Avalon opened her mouth, "What makes you think I would ever give you back?"

"Why would you want him, though?" Avalon pointed at the Doctor, ignoring the loud huff the man gave at that. Oh yeah, she would be taking jabs. "I mean, there had to be have been smarter Time Lords..."

"Oi!" the Doctor cried.

"Much more fun Time Lords too..." Avalon continued, her smirk widening.

"Oi!"

"And you know, one that didn't dress like an idiot," Avalon added, making Idris laugh.

Hey!" the Doctor frowned, nearly stomping his foot.

Avalon finally got the door opened and stepped away to let Idris out. She turned to the man, "Well, you've got no argument right now, I mean look at you?" she gestured to his current choice of attire.

"There is nothing wrong with my clothes," the Doctor declared.

"Ha! Newsflash, no one wears bow-ties anymore," Avalon then ruffled his hair, "And where do I even start with this hair?"

"Are you really going to start with hair?" the Doctor had had enough and was going to give a comeback of the century, "Because I've got some comments for you!" he grabbed a piece of her hair between his fingers, a bit surprised at how soft it felt. For a moment, he let her strand of hair curl around his finger, making him lose his train of thought, "…and…and…"

Avalon watched him with small confusion, though a part of her face felt warm, _"…and?"_ she cleared her throat and got his attention back.

"…and…your clothing!" he quickly racked his mind for an excuse. He let her hair drop from his finger and stepped back, suddenly aware he'd crossed several boundaries.

Avalon instantly tugged on her skirt, even glancing at her current outfit to remember what she wore, "What about my clothes?"

Idris watched in pure amusement as the two battled it out, if it could even be called a battle. Once the Doctor came around Avalon's face and saw she was genuinely worried he would say her clothes were no good, he stopped in front of her with a soft smile, "They look beautiful on you," he remarked.

Avalon blinked in surprise, "Oh...really?"

"Of course," the Doctor nodded, happy to see her looking better in less than a second, "You'll look amazing for your party."

Avalon knew she was blushing and thanked it was pretty dark around to hide it, "I get to go, then?"

"Yeah," he smiled.

"Uh, _no_ ," Idris raised a finger and moved over to them, almost more like stalked towards them. "She does _not_ get to go."

"Oh c'mon," Avalon threw her hands in the air, groaning in frustration. "Not you too! Now I have to deal with a talking TARDIS matrix!" she crossed her arms and mockingly glared at Idris, "Why are you here again? No offence but..."

"House eats TARDISes," Idris shrugged, "And you're still not going," she added, making Avalon frown and huff.

"House what? What do you mean?" the Doctor was stuck on those important words.

"I don't know. It's something I heard you say," Idris pointed at him.

"When?"

"In the future," Idris moved towards Avalon, wagging a finger at her, "And no means no."

"House eats Tardises?" the Doctor repeated, confused, and confirmed Idris's prediction.

"Why can't I go?" Avalon frowned.

"There you go," Idris gestured to both of them, "What are fish fingers?"

"When do I say that?" the Doctor wondered, knowing or course it would be him to say that.

"Any second," Idris warned.

"Why does everyone tell me 'no'?" Avalon demanded.

"Of course! House feeds on rift energy and TARDISes are bursting with it. And not raw. All lovely and cooked, processed food… Mmm, fish fingers."

"Oh c'mon, you can't possibly be thinking of food right now when some asteroid thing is going to eat your TARDIS!"

"But you can't eat a TARDIS, it would destroy you," the Doctor countered but froze when he realized, "Unless, unless..."

"Unless you deleted the TARDIS matrix first," Idris pointed at herself.

"Hence why you're in there," Avalon pointed at her, receiving a nod of confirmation.

"But House just can't delete a TARDIS' consciousness, that would blow a hole in the universe," Idris said before the Doctor could even open his mouth, "He pulls out the matrix, sticks it in a living receptacle and feeds off the remaining Artron energy," she then glanced back at the Doctor with a smirk, "You were about to say all that. I don't suppose you have to now."

"Wait..." Avalon hurried for the exit, "...Amy and Rory are still in there..."

The Doctor realized as well and hurried with her, "They'll be eaten," he took out Amy's phone and ran with Avalon towards the TARDIS, "Amy! Amy! Rory, get the hell out of there!"

"Doctor, something's wrong," Amy was sounded concerned.

"It's House. He's after the TARDIS. Just get out, both of you!"

"We can't. You locked the door, remember?"

"But I've unlocked it," the Doctor checked his screwdriver in case.

"You stupid well haven't! Doctor, I don't like this!"

"That makes two of us," Avalon muttered as they finally reached the TARDIS, "Why'd you lock it in the first place!?" she smacked the Doctor's arm, ignoring the yelp he gave immediately for it, "Oh, that's right, to keep me away from you so I wouldn't force you to tell me your secret!" and then she smacked him again, "How'd that plan turn out, genius?" before she was able to smack him again, he hurried up to the TARDIS and used the sonic on the doors, "Yes, because the sonic worked the first time around-"

"SHUT UP!" the Doctor surprised her with the shouted order, "Just shut up and stay quiet for a minute!"

Avalon blinked, "You don't-"

"- _no_ , be quiet!" the Doctor wouldn't let her finish, "For once, don't shout, don't move, just stay still and _silent_! Have you got that?" Almost meekly, Avalon looked down. The Doctor didn't take notice as he'd turned for the TARDIS again, "Open!" he snapped his fingers in hopes of getting the doors open. Of course, that also failed, "Amy! Rory!" he went back to pounding on the doors, only to hear the sounds of the de-materializing starting up and so had to step back as the box disappeared right before his eyes. He picked up the cellphone again and put it on his ear, "Amy? Amy, can you hear me?" but he received no answer. He put the phone away and sighed, "OK. Right. I don't... I really don't know what to do," then he had to smile a little because of its rarity, "That's a new feeling," he turned to Avalon.

The face she had was one of pure death. She'd gotten over her initial reaction and now was furious. Without a word, she slapped him across the face and growled in fury as she stalked off back to the tunnels, quickly or else she'd end up slapping him over and over and over.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor followed after Avalon in silence, irritated himself with her. They'd went back for Idris but didn't find her at her cell anymore and so went on a search, finally finding the woman/TARDIS back in the cavern room with Auntie and Uncle.

"The box is gone," Avalon declared as soon as they found her.

"Eaten?" Idris glanced at her, eyeing the very clear distance put between her and the Doctor.

"No, it left. Not eaten, hi-jacked," the Doctor sighed, "But why?"

"It's time for us both to go, and keep together," Auntie stood up from her spot and started to walk off.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Avalon went after her, "You can't just leave!"

"Well, we're dying, my love. It's time for Auntie and Uncle to pop off."

"I'm against it," Uncle input with a resigned tone.

"It's your fault, isn't it sweets?" Auntie looked past Avalon to the Doctor.

Avalon scoffed, "Who could've guessed that one?" she crossed her arms and turned to the man.

"First of all, be quiet," the Doctor pointed at her, "You're angry and your temper is rising-"

"Good, you'll finally see what happens when it reaches all the way up here," Avalon raised her hand as high as possible, "Can't wait to find out myself. But you know what I'd really like right now? To know exactly how you messed this one up," she glanced back at Auntie with a sweet smile, "How exactly did he do that?"

"He told House it was the last TARDIS. House can't feed on them if there's none more coming, can he?"

"Hear that..." Avalon glared at the Doctor, "Now because of you, my best friend and his wife are stuck in a box controlled by 'House' while we're stuck on some stupid planet outside the universe!"

The sound of Auntie falling to the ground ended the argument. The Doctor hurried to the woman while Uncle stood up, "Actually, I feel fine," though he did not and fell beside Auntie.

"Not dead. You can't just die!" the Doctor shouted in frustration at the pair, both they were long dead now.

Idris ignored the panic and stood up, "We need to go to where I landed, Doctor. Quickly."

"Why?" Avalon asked, curiously.

"Because we are there in three minutes. We need to go now!" Idris started to run but felt a jab on her stomach and yelped in pain, "Ow! Roughly, how long do these bodies last?"

The Doctor tool the sonic out and scanned her while Avalon helped sustain her, "You're dying," he realized.

"Yes, of course I'm dying," Idris didn't seem too surprised as she snatched the sonic from him, handing it over to Avalon who in awe immediately took it, "I don't belong in a flesh body. I could blow the casing in no time.'

Avalon took a step back, "That would've been good information earlier," she wearily stared at the woman/box, "But, uh, anyways, what are we going to do?" she looked led at Idris and the Doctor with an expectant expression.

"Oh I thought you were mad at me," the Doctor smirked.

"I am, but I'm no idiot," she wiped the smirk off his face, "You and her are the only ones with the knowledge to get me back to my world. So get to focusing and get me out of here!"

"On what? How? I'm a madman with a box, without a box!" he tried to snatch the screwdriver from her, "I'm stuck down the plughole at the end of the universe on a stupid old junkyard! Oh."

Avalon knew that look he had on his face, it meant there was a plan brewing, "What is it?" she put her hands behind her back along with his sonic.

"No, I'm not," he mumbled to him in thought.

"Not what?" even Idris was curious to know what he was thinking of.

"Cos it's not a junkyard. Don't you see? It's not a junkyard!"

"And he lost his eyesight too, what a shame," Avalon mocked-sighed as she moved around.

"You, calm down," Idris pointed at her and glanced at the Doctor, "What is it, then?"

"It's a TARDIS junkyard!" the Doctor exclaimed, still trying to get his sonic from the ginger to no avail, "Come on! Ooh, sorry," he stopped his attempts and looked at Idris, "Do you have a name?"

"700 years, finally he asks," Idris shook her head, Avalon smiling at the sarcasm the woman displayed.

"But what do I call you?"

"I think you call me... Sexy," Idris put her hands on her hips.

The Doctor's eyes widened, startled she'd just released private information, "Only when we're alone!"

"You can have this back," Avalon chucked him his sonic, the man scrambling to catch it, "Because _that_ is gold compared to a stupid sonic screwdriver," she laughed as she headed for the exit.

"Look what you did," the Doctor muttered at Idris who was smirking, "She won't be letting that go, _ever_!"

"Well at least she won't be angry with you anymore," Idris pointed out as she crossed her arms, "Because we both know how her temper is," she laughed suddenly, "Even as a newborn she was quite the arguer!"

Knowing Avalon was gone, the turned to Idris completely serious, "You knew her as a baby?"

"Of course!" Idris waved him off and moved for the exit, "You brought her in when she was just a little baby," she mimicked the rocking of a baby.

"I brought her in..." the Doctor repeated in confusion. There were so many things that didn't make sense about Avalon and now he had this piece of information? He frowned. "Who sent her that letter?" he asked quietly. "You're the TARDIS therefore you must know who gave Avalon the letter that warns her she's in danger? Who sent it?"

Idris' face softened, giving the impression that she did know something. "What the letter says is true. She's in danger but you can keep her safe. It's what you've been doing right?"

"You're not answering the question!"

"And you know I can't. It's all fixed points."

"Suddenly I think she _should_ be mad with me," the Doctor muttered and went after Avalon. Each time he tried to get some answers, all he got instead were reminders that he would play a part in whatever was coming for her.

Idris watched after him with a grim face, neither knew what was to come, nor what had already come. What's worse what she had to keep quiet or it could bring, terrible, terrible, consequences.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor had an impossible idea to recreate a console with the different remnants of TARDISES around. And even though Avalon was still crossed with him, she handed back the screwdriver for him to use on their work ahead. She was smart, she knew, but she was no where near competent enough to build another TARDIS console from scratch. So, while he and Idris worked on that console, she stood to the side with her arms crossed as she stood staring at the two. And because she was still crossed with the Doctor, she was quite enjoying herself as she watched him struggle to pull a piece of wall with a rope.

"Bond the tube directly into the Tachyon Diverter," Idris called, eyeing Avalon with an amused smile, knowing the ginger was far more amused with the Doctor's struggle than she ought to be.

"Yes, yes, I have actually rebuilt a TARDIS before, you know. I know what I'm doing," the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"You're like a nine-year-old trying to rebuild a motorbike in his bedroom. And you never read the instructions."

"I always read the instructions!"

"Ha!" Avalon scoffed loudly, taking a seat on a pile of scraps and crossing her arms, "That's as true as saying I'm a perfect little angel."

"You're not," Idris pointed at her, "And wipe that smirk off your face, Doctor," she glanced at the alien in time to see him surprised she'd caught him without looking, "You know, there's a sign on my front door. You have been walking past it for 700 years. What does it say?"

"Oh, this ought to be good," Avalon smirked.

"Shut up!" the Doctor exclaimed at her then looked at Idris with a frown, "That's not instructions!"

"There's an instruction at the bottom. What does it say?" Idris asked, expecting some type of defer from the answer.

"Oh, I know!" Avalon raised her hand, knowing it would stick it to the Doctor right in the ego, "Pull to open!" she clapped her hands and smirked at the Doctor, "And I know exactly what he does."

"Be quiet," he snapped, although the ginger didn't seem to mind she was only infuriating him more.

"You _push_ the doors open," she continued with an even wider smirk.

"Every single time. 700 years," Idris had to join in, although she didn't do it to irritate the Doctor more, "Police Box doors open out the way."

The Doctor threw down the rope in anger and stalked towards the two, "I think I've earned the right to open my front doors any way I want!"

"Wow, that was a great comeback," Avalon patted his arm and moved around him, "Told you, Idris, you should've gotten a better Time Lord pilot."

"That is it!" the Doctor whirled around and went after her, "I am sick of your sarcastic little snaps just because I don't want to tell you something! Frankly, GET OVER IT!"

Deep anger set across Avalon's face as she turned to face him. "Yeah, get over the fact that the one person I look up to doesn't trust me like I trust him." And somehow, that anger faltered the more she thought about it. "Sure," she turned away from him.

The Doctor realized that was not the way he wanted to talk to her but after so much time taking her insults and remarks...he exploded. He never wanted to do that, ever, but everyone had their breaking point. He reached to touch her arm and turn her to him but he couldn't find the courage to do so. He took his trembling hand away and turned from her, avoiding the stare of Idris as well. Without knowing, Avalon had walked several steps away from him and Idris as her tears grew harder to keep inside.

~ 0 ~

With the makeshift console having three walls set up and its console nearly finished, Idris took chance to try and get Avalon to rejoin her and the Doctor. The ginger had stayed away for quite some minutes since her last 'conversation' with the Doctor. Idris was trying to remain impartial to both sides, seeing faults in both of them as well as some good points for each, but really disliked it when Avalon was upset. That was why she always made sure she led Avalon straight to the Doctor when she was in need of help. Who else than him, right?

"Hey..." Idris felt nervous to initiate conversations, probably due to the fact she never had a conversation with anyone with actual words coming from her mouth. She didn't even have a mouth! She knelt down beside Avalon, the ginger with her arms crossed and gaze on the floor, her eyes visibly red from the quiet tears that had been flowing down her face.

"I don't need a pity talk," Avalon spoke quietly, not even looking at Idris, "Leave me alone."

Idris stared at the woman for a couple minutes before speaking up again. " _A little fairy comes at night, her eyes are blue, her hair is brown..._ " As Idris started reciting the poem, Avalon's eyes flickered to the woman in shock. " _...with silver spots upon her wings, and from the moon she flutters down..._ "

"I've heard that before..." Avalon said quietly and quickly tried remembering where on Earth she'd heard those lines. "That's a poem. I know it's a poem but I just..."

"The Dream Fairy," Idris gave her the name of the poem. "I thought you'd remember some of it."

"But _where_ did I hear that from?" Avalon remained puzzled even after ransacking her mind for the stupid poem.

"It'll come to you later," Idris dismissed it and moved onto the more pressing matter. "You and the Doctor...this argument cannot continue."

Avalon rolled her eyes. "Of course you'd take his side. You don't trust me either."

"No, no, it's not that, and stop saying that!" Idris scolded.

"I don't get it," Avalon continued sadly, "He's told Amy, Rory, he's even told Lena! Heck, I bet even River Song knows about this than me. Everyone knows but me, why?" she looked at Idris, "Everyone says it's not because he doesn't trust me...what's the reason then?"

It broke Idris's heart to see Avalon like that. Idris knew the Doctor meant well, she understood his reasons, but it was beginning to cause a wedge in his relation with her. That was something Idris would never permit, not as long as she was around. She looked over to the Doctor, knowing very well he'd been eavesdropping as usual, and gave him a stern look. Upon realizing what she was going to do he dropped what he was doing and violently shook his head and hands, eyes wide as could be.

"Do you know why he's afraid to tell you?" she began questioning Avalon.

"Afraid?" Avalon repeated in confusion.

"Mhm," Idris nodded her head, discreetly glancing at the Doctor to see him still shaking his head at her, "You have such a wonderful image of him, adorable one too," she winked and Avalon blushed.

"Privacy means nothing to you people," Avalon mumbled, eyeing Idris, "Or boxes."

Idris chuckled, "Honey, I'm a box, I see everything whether I want to or not," she shrugged, "And that includes writing," she tapped Avalon's nose, "Sorry about that. But because I see everything, I know how you look at him and how much he wants to keep it like that," Avalon raised her eyebrows in confusion. Idris glanced at the Doctor one more time to let him know she was going through with it, much to his horror, "The reason he won't tell you that big secret is because he doesn't want to lose the image you have of him."

"But...but I don't...I don't understand," Avalon shook her head and looked back to the Doctor but saw him already coming towards them, as well as throwing a glare at Idris for some reason.

"What do you call him?" Idris urgently asked her, seeing their time was about to end.

"What?" Avalon was too distracted to focus on the question.

"The Doctor, what do you call him all the time? C'mon Ava," Idris tugged on the gingers sleeve.

"Leave it alone," the Doctor snapped at her as he neared them.

"No, I will not," Idris snapped right back, "I love both of you and I will not dismiss this opportunity where I can actually talk to help both of you. Avalon," she looked at the ginger again, "Please, what do you call him, eh? That name you gave him when you were just seven years old."

"Fairy-tale man," Avalon answered slowly, still in confusion.

"And that is exactly what he doesn't want to lose," Idris smiled sadly, "That image you have of him since you were seven."

Avalon stood up and faced the Doctor, slightly less confused, "Is that true?"

"Well..." the Doctor shifted on his feet, unable to look her in the eyes.

Avalon didn't need him to actually say the answer, she could see it clearly from his nervousness and stance, "What can be that bad that you would think that?" but she received no answer from him nor Idris, "Is it...is it really _that_ bad?" she asked in a whisper.

"Honestly, Ava, yes," the Doctor reached for her hands and tugged her closer, "It's awful, the worst thing you will hear about me, and I'm...I'm scared of what you'll think of me afterwards."

"But you told everyone else," Avalon quietly reminded, "You weren't afraid with them?"

"Of course I was..."

"Then?"

"I don't know, Ava, I just...I want you to keep seeing me as that fairy-tale man you always call me. The one that always comes and rescues people in need, one that you're not afraid of..."

"I could never be afraid of you, silly," Avalon smiled, touched he had that much care for some nickname she appropriated on him as a child.

"You might be after you know."

"Was Lena afraid of you after you told her?"

"Well, no..."

"Then?"

"Really, Ava, I don't know why it's so hard with you..." the Doctor sighed, missing the sharp look Idris threw at him.

 _He really is an idiot_ , she thought. Even Avalon was being slow on it! Oh, as soon as she was back where she belonged she would take it upon herself to push them together. It had been amusing at first to watch them but it'd grown a bit agitating once the blushing and cute little comments got old...like right now.

"Well I don't know if this'll make a difference or not but it really hurts me to know that everyone else knows your secret except for me," Avalon took her hands back with a sigh, "Makes me feel like an outcast."

"No, Avalon, that's not..." the Doctor tried to mend the issue but Avalon forced a small smile as she moved away from him, "...it's not like that," he sighed and gave up.

"Well good going, genius," Idris set her hands on her hips as she moved up to him.

"Why would you tell her that!?" he demanded from her with irritation, "That was something she didn't need to know!".

"Better question would be why haven't _you_ told her that?" she countered then laughed, "You mean well, but you have to understand that you're hurting her and that's the last thing you want, right?"

"Of course, it's just hard, no one gets it..." the Doctor huffed and looked away.

"Not even you," Idris rolled her eyes at his obliviousness, "Idiot," she muttered.

After a couple more minutes, the makeshift console had finally been completed. The trio stood a couple feet away from it while they studied it.

"So...that is supposed to get us back to the TARDIS?" Avalon asked after a good moment of silence.

"It's perfect!" the Doctor exclaimed, "What could possibly go wrong?"

Avalon watched as one small piece fell off the console. _"That,"_ she pointed at it.

"That's fine, that always happens," the Doctor waved it off, looking away with a face, "No! Hang on! Wait!" he ran off with the women watching after him. He returned holding a bright, red rope with him.

"Why?" Idris sighed in resignation, never used to the deranged ideas her thief always had.

"You know...for princesses...and stuff," he eyed Avalon with a smile, hoping she'd be less angry now since she was accepting to be this close to him and Idris.

"VIP," Avalon gave a light chuckle, making him beam.

Idris discreetly smirked as she moved up to the console, leaving them to follow. The Doctor led Avalon up to the console and secured the ropes around and latched them to the console.

"Right. OK, let's go," the Doctor made sure they were all set to go, "Follow that TARDIS!" he flicked a couple switches to the console but unfortunately they weren't going anywhere.

"What's happened?" Avalon frowned, seeing the complete fail of the console.

"It can't hold the charge. I can't even start it," the Doctor tried a couple more switches to no avail, "There's no power! I've got nothing!"

"Oh, my beautiful idiot," Idris rolled her eyes, "You have what you've always had - you've got me," she kissed her finger and made it glow with energy as she placed it on the central column. Avalon watched in pure awe as the energy circled them with a field and set them to dematerialize.

First thing they did when they were off was to send a message to Amy and Rory, thankfully Idris was able to do so with the TARDIS telepathy circuits. They were left directions to head back to the old control room where they would lower the shields of the box. They could guess that the humans were in a bit of a pickle with House controlling the TARDIS and so hoped they would get there soon.

Amy and Rory had to do a guessing trick to avoid being hit by the nearing makeshift console. Thankfully, the trio appeared on the other side of the console room, on the floor.

"Doctor!" Amy sighed of relief as the man stood up.

"Rory!" Avalon jumped to her feet and rushed to hug him, really glad to see him again. She felt Idris stand slowly with a hand on her hip, "Not good. Not good at all," she took a breath and thanked the Doctor who returned to help her, "How do you walk around in these things?"

"With our legs," Avalon pointed to her feet, earning a mock-glare from Idris, "Just saying," she raised her hands in defeat.

"What's going on?" Rory eyed Idris with reluctance, not too keen to have his best friend near a crazy woman.

"Rory, Amy, this is..." the Doctor couldn't even find the right introduction, "Well, she's my TARDIS. Except she's a woman. She's a woman, and she's my TARDIS."

Amy's jaw fell open, "She's the TARDIS?!"

"And she's a woman. She's a woman and she's the TARDIS."

"He wished that hard," Avalon smirked, making Amy laugh.

"Shut up!" the Doctor frowned and quickly looked at Amy for clarification, "Not like that."

"Wait for it, it gets better," Avalon bit her lip as she turned to Idris, "What's your name?"

"Sexy," Idris smirked.

"Oh," Rory looked between the two laughing gingers.

"I hate you!" the Doctor declared for Avalon, though part of him was slightly glad she was making her usual mock-insulting comments because it meant that she wasn't that angry with him anymore.

"The environment has been breached. Nephew, kill them all," House's voice rang through the room, reminding everyone there was still a bad guy to defeat.

"Where's Nephew?" Rory looked around for the missing Ood.

"He was standing right where you materialized," Amy pointed at the Doctor and Idris.

"Ah, well," the Doctor made a face, "He must have been redistributed."

Avalon caught his little face and sighed, "...and that means...?"

"You're breathing him."

All three companions covered their noses like a pack of dominoes, making the Doctor smile in amusement.

"Doctor, I did not expect you," House said.

"Well, that's me all over, isn't it?" he looked around, "Lovely old unexpected me."

"The big question is, now you're here, how to dispose of you? I could play with gravity..." House made the entire group fall down with the gravity and after a moment released them, though Idris couldn't stand up anymore and collapsed a second time. Avalon and Rory went to help her while House continued playing his tricks, "Or I could evacuate the air from this room and watch you choke," he then took out the air from the room, making everyone choke for air.

"You really don't want to do that!" the Doctor shouted.

House returned the air, "Why shouldn't I just kill you now?"

"Because then I won't be able to help you! Listen to your engines. Just listen to them. You don't have the thrust and you know it. I'm your only hope for getting out of your little bubble, through the rift, and into my universe. And mine's the one with the food in! You just have to promise not to kill us. That's all, just promise."

Idris took Avalon's arm and used it to tug her down where she whispered something to the ginger. For a moment, Avalon seemed confused at the words she was hearing, but after a moment it seemed to dawn on her...

"You can't be serious," Amy was scolding the Doctor for his lack of intelligence at the moment. House would kill them the moment they were back in the universe.

"I'm very serious. I'm sure it's an entity of its word," the Doctor calmly said and looked back at Idris, walking back to her as he saw her health quickly deteriorating, "Hey. Hang in there, old girl. Not long now. It'll be over soon."

Idris smiled, "I always liked it when you call me... old girl."

"You want me to give my word? Easy. I promise," House assured, though everyone knew that was a vile lie.

"Fine. OK. I trust you," the Doctor stood up, "Just delete, ooh, 30% of the TARDIS rooms, you'll free up thrust enough to make it through. Activate sub-routine Sigma-9."

"Why would you tell me this?"

"Because we want to get back to our universe as badly as you do. And I'm nice."

"And I really hope an idiot with a plan," Avalon mumbled to Rory who quickly agreed.

"Ye-e-s. I can delete rooms, and I can also rid myself of vermin if I delete this room first. Thank you, Doctor, very helpful. Goodbye, Time Lord. Goodbye, little humans. Goodbye, Idris."

A flash of light engulfed the room and left the group back in the current console room. The Doctor strode around the place with a small smirk, "Yes. I mean you could do that, but it just won't work. Hardwired fail-safe. Living things from rooms that are deleted are automatically deposited in the main control room. But thanks for the lift!" he looked back at the others, seeing Avalon and Rory standing but remaining by Idris's side while Amy stood up not too far away from them.

"We are in your Universe now, Doctor. Why should it matter to me in which room you die?" House seemed less than concerned, "I can kill you just as easily here as anywhere. Fear me. I've killed hundreds of Time Lords."

The Doctor had a good comeback that would silence that stupid entity right at the moment...there was just one thing getting in the way, one person. But that didn't matter anymore, Idris was right...in a long run his good intentions were hurting her. "Fear _me_ ," he swallowed hard, "I've killed _all_ of them," he slowly glanced over his shoulder to Avalon.

Her eyes were wide after hearing those powerful words, almost matching her horror. She looked over to Amy for confirmation, the other ginger nodded her head silently.

"I don't understand, there isn't a forest in here," Rory's voice broke through the silence in the room.

"Yeah, you're right. You've completely won," the Doctor recomposed himself for House, "Oh, you can kill us in oodles of really inventive ways, but before you do kill us allow me and friends, Avalon, Amy and Rory to congratulate you on being an absolutely worthy opponent," he clapped his hands and grabbed Amy by the arm, forcing her to clap along with him.

"Congratulations!" Amy said awkwardly, still clapping even though knowing no reason why she was clapping in the first place.

"Yep, you've defeated us, me and my lovely friends here at last but definitely not least the TARDIS Matrix herself, a living consciousness you ripped out of this very control room and locked up into a human body and look at her!"

"Doctor, she's stopped breathing," Rory looked up from Idris.

"Enough!" ordered House, "That is enough."

"No. It's never enough. You forced the TARDIS into a body so she'd burn out safely a very long way away from this control room. A flesh body can't hold the TARDIS Matrix and live. Look at her body, House," the Doctor turned to look at Idris.

"And you think I should mourn her?"

"No. I think you should be very, very careful about what you let back into this control room," the Doctor watched the energy flow from Idris' mouth, "You took her from her home. But now she's back in the box again and she's free!" the energy streamed throughout the room, altering the green light of House back to the common gold.

"No! Doctor, stop this!" House was crying out in pain, "OW! Stop this now!"

"Oh, look at my girl, look at her go!" the Doctor cheered, "Bigger on the inside! You see, House?"

"Make it stop!"

"That's your problem. Size of a planet, but inside you're just so small!"

"Make it stop!"

"Finish him off, girl," the Doctor ordered, rather darkly.

For a couple more seconds the group continued to hear the cries of House. The room slowly turned back to its usual golden color, leaving them an eerie silence. The Doctor turned for Avalon, the ginger immediately taking a step back, too jumbled up to be able to have a decent conversation.

"Doctor? Are you there?" his attempt to get to the ginger was cut off by the Idris's call. He turned to see a glowing projection of her in front of the console, "It's so very dark in here."

"I'm here..." he softly said.

"I've been looking for a word. A big, complicated word, but so sad. I've found it now."

"What word?"

"Alive," Idris smiled, "I'm alive!"

"Alive isn't sad," the Doctor said in confusion.

"It's sad when it's over. I'll always be here. But this is when we talked and now even that has come to an end. There's something I didn't get to say to you."

"Goodbye?"

"No, I just wanted to say... hello," Idris smiled sadly, even through her projection one could see her eyes were teary, "Hello, Doctor. It's so very, very nice to meet you."

"Please!" the Doctor's eyes also teared up, "I don't want you to. Please!" but he had to step back as the projection dissipated, a bright light emerging soon afterwards along with the sounds of the TARDIS.

"I love you," they were able to hear Idris's last words.

"...where...?" confused, the Doctor faced the console, also in an attempt to hide his own face.

The companions looked at each other with uncertainty of what to do next. However, Avalon was quietly mumbling words under her breath, the same ones Idris had repeated to her earlier, growing distant with the seconds.

~ 0 ~

Later on, Amy and Rory came down underneath the console where the Doctor sat on the swing fixing up the mess of wires House had left behind.

"How's it going?" Rory asked.

"Just putting a firewall around the Matrix. Almost done."

"Are you going to make her talk again?" Amy wondered as she took a seat on one of the stairs.

"Can't," the Doctor shook his head.

"Why not?" Rory curiously asked.

"Spacey-wacey, isn't it?" Amy chuckled.

"Well actually," the Doctor stopped with the wires to explain, "It's because the Time Lords discovered that if you take an eleventh-dimensional matrix and fold it into a mechanical then..." and Rory then touched two wires together, making them spark, "Yes, it's spacey-wacey!" the Doctor shooed the human off.

"Sorry. At the end, she was talking. She kept repeating something," Rory recalled the odd words of Idris, "I don't know what it meant."

The Doctor stood up, "What did she say?"

"The only water in the forest is the river. And that harmony is part of a melody. She said we'd need to know that someday. It doesn't make sense, does it?"

"Not yet."

"But she told Avalon something too," Rory remembered, "And it was different."

"Speaking of, where is she?" the Doctor looked behind the two companions in hopes of catching a glimpse of the other ginger who'd been away for some time now. Though he could imagine why she'd made no appearance...

"She's in her room," Amy shrugged, eyeing the concern of the Doctor, "Just give her some time, she'll come out when she's ready."

"Yeah, everything's going to be fine," Rory assured, "I know Ava like the back of my hand. She's just got some thinking to do, that's all. And you know what happens when she thinks..."

"She writes," both Rory and the Doctor said together.

"Which means it'll be hours before she'll come out," Amy stood up with a tired sigh, "So it's time for bed."

"The House deleted all the bedrooms. I should make you two a new bedroom," the Doctor recalled, "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Rory whispered several words to Amy, "OK. Doctor, this time, could we lose the bunk beds?" she asked the Doctor, "You didn't give Avalon nor Lena one."

"First of all, when the TARDIS made Avalon a room I sort of made sure it would be a room that she loved due to the fact our beginning wasn't in good terms," the Doctor pointed at them, making both humans recall the very tensed relation he and Avalon shared during the early days, "And second of all, Lena needed a proper room for her health. I wouldn't dare mess with that."

"So you gave us the crappy rooms," Amy huffed playfully.

"No, I gave you the coolest, fun rooms! bunk beds are cool. A bed with a ladder! You can't beat that," the Doctor insisted. He received the sharp looks from them and sighed, "It's your room. Up those stairs, keep walking till you find it. Off you pop!"

"Doctor, do you have a room?" Rory inquired as Amy grabbed him and pulled him up the stairs.

The Doctor wiped off a few more spots in the wires, ignoring the question. His mind was a bit too focused on Avalon and how she was reacting to his actions. He was truly terrified of what could happen once she came out of that room. In fact, he was a bit curious to go and knock and just get her words straight in the face.

What was taking her so long!?

~ 0 ~

Avalon finished writing the last words in her journal, looking at the lines she'd written. She sat on her bed with her back to the headboard, had been for some time now. She read the words she wrote over and over, her brain too jumbled to understand them.

_A little fairy comes at night,_

_Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown'_

_with silver spots upon her wings,_

_And from the moon she flutters down._

_She has a little silver wand,_

_And when a good child goes to bed_

_She waves her wand from left to right_

_And makes a circle round her head_

_And then it dreams of pleasant things,_

_Of fountains filled with fairy fish,_

_And trees that bear dilicious fruit,_

_And bow their branches at a wish;_

_Of arbours filled with dainty scents_

_From lovely flowers that never fade,_

_Bright flies that glitter in the sun,_

_And glow-worms shining in the shade;_

_And talking birds with gifted tongues_

_For singing songs and telling tales,_

_And pretty dwarfs to show the way_

_Through fairy hills and fairy dales._

Avalon sighed as she once again had nothing from this poem that Idris said to her. "Where did this come from?" she looked up at the ceiling, "Why did you tell me this poem?" there was a light hum she received back, "I don't get it, I don't..." she snapped shut her journal and placed it beside her, rubbing her temples afterwards,

Avalon let everything go and stood up, taking a deep breath as she stared at the door. Suddenly, her phone went off and startled her. She went to her desk where her phone laid and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Avalon, where are you!?" Lena's voice was loud enough for Avalon to flinch again, "Ian's here and he says if you want to go to that party it's still up for grabs."

"Party, right," Avalon whispered, barely remembering she had even gotten dressed for the big ole party.

"Avalon, what's going on? You coming or not?" Lena asked, already suspecting something was wrong with her sister.

"Um, yeah, yeah," Avalon nodded slowly as she realized that perhaps a party was just what she needed. She smiled brightly as she got more into the idea, "Yeah! I'll be there in five!" she hung up and dashed out the door with the phone in hand.

She was running with a genuine smile as she thought of all the fun she was about to have, especially after the events that took place earlier in the day, "Doctor" she called and came to a skidded halt in the console room as she saw he was silently going around the console, also probably thinking of the earlier events, "Um..."

"You're out," the Doctor gasped lightly, his face lighting up at the sight of her, "You came out..." he moved to meet her but remembered she knew his secret and became nervous of what she could do.

"Yeah..." Avalon nodded slowly, "...em, I got, um..." she waved her cell phone, making the Doctor assume the worst.

"You can't go home!" he shook his head fast, "Please! I know what I did was awful and you can't see that fairy-tale man you always saw me as-"

"I'm not going home, Doctor," Avalon shook her head, scoffing at the idea.

"You're...you're not?"

"No," she crossed her arms, sadly watching him, "I'll admit it's no easy thing to assimilate...and after today..." she trailed off as he turned to the console, looking even more mortified. She felt uncomfortable and awkward seeing as how she acted all day to him over the secret. She sighed and reached for his arm with her free hand, "Can I say...I'm sorry for my behavior today?"

"You're apologizing," the Doctor blinked, really not that one. She'd done nothing wrong unlike him!

"I was out of line and I'm sorry, and since this probably won't be the last time this happens I'll apologize in advance."

He had to smile at that, "At least your sense of humor is coming back, let's me know you're not that upset."

"I'm sorry for what happened with, um..." she looked at the console with a sad smile, "...she was so eccentric and yet so...warm and kind. You did good in taking her."

"You think so?"

"Brought you to us, didn't it?" she smiled brightly, "Turned our sleepover upside down! And...I think she took a good Time Lord too," she added.

"Really?" the Doctor started to smirk seeing she was taking back all her insults.

"Yes, _but_ -" she raised a finger, "-all my previous statements about your clothing and hair still stand," and she wiped that smirk off his face.

"Oh c'mon!"

Avalon laughed at him, "C'mon _you_ ," she gestured, "It's the 21st century! In fact I was born in the 51st century and people still didn't wear...that," she dragged a finger up and down in the air at him.

"Well...at least your laughing again," the Doctor sighed, resigned to hear any other complain she had about his clothes.

Avalon looked at him for that, always intrigued why he let her remarks slide when no one else did. It just showed how much better of a person he was than her, "And listen...about the secret, and stuff, um..." but the way the Doctor instantly fell grim and glum made her not want to continue.

It was clear it was a private matter that still troubled him and she had no right to question about it nor dig into it. She got what she wanted in the end, to know what he had done. Suddenly, winning was no fun this time round. Today he'd lost so much and she hadn't helped one bit, the least she could do now was act like a true friend, because that's all he'd been doing to her ever since they met.

She ended up hugging him, much to his surprise. She could never come up with the right words for what he had to have gone through in hat war, so a hug would have to suffice. The Doctor of course wasn't expecting it, but he wasn't going to reject it either. He knew it was her way of saying things were okay, how could he not hug back?

The sound of her phone vibrating startled Avalon into pulling away. She looked at the lock screen and read the message, from Lena, telling her to hurry up or Ian would drop the party offer.

"Is that for your party?" the Doctor pointed, remembering such plan, unable to help the disappointed tinge in his tone. He didn't like the idea of her going off with some guy to a party where anything could happen, because bad things _could_ happen, and he didn't want Avalon to be hurt. That was it.

"Um...yeah," Avalon looked up at him, registering his expression, "My party got cancelled," she spoke slowly and bit her lip, "Ian realized I was too much of a troublemaker and didn't want to take a risk on me. Oh well," she glanced down at her phone for a moment as she replayed what she'd just said.

Why had she just said that!? She'd been looking forward to this party for _years_! It was all she could talk about with Ian every time they saw each other. As soon as she turned twenty one she'd hit those clubs! _Why_ had she just done that?

"Really?" the Doctor immediately asked, a small smile escaping through his lips, "Canceled..."

Avalon saw his brighten up face and nodded, throwing away all those thoughts she had in her mind. It was definitely worth it, "Mhm, oh well. Um, maybe you want to do something?" she asked, eyeing the console, "Maybe get your mind off this day?"

"Y-yeah, that sounds...that sounds really great, actually," the Doctor nodded, his smile widening.

"In fact, I already got an idea!"

"What is it?"

"How do you feel about a fencing match?" Avalon raised an eyebrow a tint of a smirk already playing on her lips, "And we can make it interesting, of course."

 _"Fencing?"_ the Doctor said with reluctance.

"I'm sure the TARDIS wouldn't mind creating a fencing room for us, wouldn't you dear?" she called to the box and received several hums back, making her laugh, "I think it's done! So how bout it, then, hm?" she stepped closer to him, "I challenge you."

"I don't know, Ava..."

"C'mon, are you afraid I'll beat you?"

"I've had my shares of fencing practices," the Doctor informed her, "It'd be cheating if I accepted."

"Sort of what happened with my playing cards," she raised her arm where his old watch was still strapped to her wrist, "And that's how you lost this," she tapped the glass of _his_ watch.

"You cheated!"

Avalon laughed again, "Then here's your opportunity to win it back. Wanna hear my wager?" the Doctor sighed but nodded for her to go on, "Okay, if I win, I get to keep your watch and..." her eyes drifted to the console, the Doctor following her gaze with dread, "You have to teach me how to drive this box."

"Oh, Ava..."

Avalon clapped her hands together, already so excited for the match, "What's yours?"

The Doctor hace her a sharp look, not too keen on letting her have that wager...until something else hit him, something he'd always been curious to know about, "If I win..." he began and smiled as Avalon beamed that he'd accepted, "...I get that back, first of all," he pointed at his watch, "And..." and he started smirking, "...you have to tell me about those stories you wrote about me I always hear about."

Avalon's eyes widened, making his smirk widened, "But then you'd know..." she whispered, going pale just at the thought.

"Know what?"

"You can't-" she began to protest but received a hand to stop her.

"Those are the wages, deal?"

She made a face at him but ended up shaking his hand, the only good thing being that he was looking more happy, "Deal," she said to him.

"Excellent!"

"Let me just make a call first..." Avalon waved her phone and backed away. She loved the look of excitement on his face and so hurried to the corridors to make that call and get back to him. She quickly dialed Lena back and awaited for the line to be picked up, "Lena!"

"Avalon, where are you? Ian's getting impatient!" Lena exclaimed.

"Lena, listen," Avalon calmed her sister down and spoke in a hushed tone in case the Doctor was eavesdropping again, "Tell Ian thank you but I'm gonna pass on the party."

"What!? But that's like your number one thing on that bucket list you made!" Lena gasped, "What happened?"

"Something important came up," Avalon honestly said, smiling at what awaited for her back in the console room, "Tell Ian I said thanks but no thanks. Bye!" she hung up and tossed her phone back, knowing the I would eventually get it back to her bedroom. She hurried back to the console with a bright smile on her face, "All done," she informed with a light shrug, "You ready, then?" she then noticed the odd look on his face and became worried he'd thought about Idris again, "Doctor?" she cautiously walked up to him.

"I was thinking...maybe we could go somewhere first," he said quietly and turned to her, "I want to talk about that, um, 'secret' with you."

Avalon raised her eyebrows, unsure how to go about that delicate topic, "You don't have to...I mean, I got what I wanted. I know the secret. You don't have to explain yourself to me."

"I need to," the Doctor nodded, taking a deep breath as he reached for her hand, "You have, or had, this fake image of me and I want you to know who you travel with."

"I know who I travel with," Avalon gave a small smile, "My fairy-tale man."

"Last time I checked, fairy tales didn't include the slaughter of an entire planet," the Doctor muttered.

Avalon could see this was important to him, just as much as it had been for her when she demanded to know what the secret was, "Okay, let's talk, then," she gestured to the stairs where they could sit together and have that conversation. "But I have to warn you that it's not going to change how I see you."

"Not here," the Doctor shook his head, "I was thinking we could go out somewhere. Um, have some dinner maybe?"

Avalon blinked with surprise...and with a small blush on her face. If she didn't know any better, that sounded like a...date. And if it was, why was she blushing? It didn't mean it was going to be some romantic ole date, it could very well (and probably) be a friend date, seeing as they would be conversing over something serious.

"Avalon?" the Doctor nervously called her name, wondering if he'd finally scared her off. He needed to sit down and talk to her, tell her exactly what happened and how he came to make that awful decision. And besides, she looked so lovely and pretty the way she was dressed that he couldn't fathom the idea of not taking her out.

Had he just thought that!?

Startled, the Doctor turned to the console and made sure to not look at her, he was sure his face was red as a tomato.

"Dinner, then," Avalon was coming around the idea, "Yeah, alright. I could do dinner," she nodded.

"Yes?" suddenly the Doctor forgot about his blush as he turned for Avalon in excitement.

"Yeah," she nodded again.

"Well then," the Doctor took her hand and led her around the console as he set the controls for their new destination, "Off we go, right?"

She gripped his hand and smiled, "Yes, my Fairy Tale Man."

The Doctor felt his hearts swell at the name she still used so kindly and softly on him. He hoped it would remain like this once he told her everything of his past. This was his Ava, after all.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Getting to some good parts here! And yes, I know Avalon was a little over-the-top here but put yourself in her shoes: she's the only one who didn't know this big secret! I'd be pissed too! xD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	5. A Cosmic Plant Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena Reynolds receives a letter that's meant for the Doctor. It takes only a short amount of time for the Doctor's companions to suspect if this is how he ends up in Lake Silencio where he is to die in 200 years.

**A/N: Disclaimer: This chapter's plotline is from Doctor Who's comic stories. Most of the dialogue is directly written from the comic. The plot is NOT mine.**

* * *

Avalon hurried into the console, nearly tripping over the steps as she went up. "We gotta go see Lena!"

"Morning to you too," Amy was making a face indicating honest concern for Avalon's strange cheerfulness. Mornings weren't exactly Avalon's thing.

"How do you trip going _up_ the stairs?" the Doctor genuinely wondered, his eyes going past Avalon to the steps and back. Not even he could pull something like that.

Avalon, in turn, sent him and Amy a glare before returning to the reason for her cheerfulness. "We gotta go see Lena! She says we have mail!"

"Mail?" Now it was Rory's turn to be concerned. Why the hell would Avalon be so happy about mail?

Avalon nodded her head. "Yes! _Space_ mail! Least that's what Lena described it to be."

"Space mail?" the Doctor repeated, though the more he thought about it the more confused he was. "You don't get 'space mail' on Earth."

"Uh, yeah we do, have you not been listening?" Avalon set her hands on her hips. "It's directed to you, actually. I thought you'd be a bit more excited."

"Well, getting mail the last time didn't work out so well for me, did it?" the Doctor muttered and turned for the console, reminding the trio of their most recent trip to the pocket dimension that led them to House.

Avalon's cheerfulness faltered. That had _not_ been her intention at all. It had been a bit difficult adjusting to life after their encounter with House, not to mention having the TARDIS talking in an animated body. Now that the Doctor had admitted to Avalon what he did in the Time War, he felt strange around her. She had promised him that nothing had changed in regards to how she viewed him. To her, he was still her Fairy Tale Man. But just the fact that she _knew_ what he was truly capable of sent him into a state of panic. The panic then gave him thoughts like ' _what if she leaves?_ ', ' _what if she realizes I'm nothing but a monster?_ '. And then the fact that he even had those thoughts alerted him to something he'd been trying to ignore for a while: _why_ didn't he have the same feelings of panic and shame with Amy, Rory and Lena? Why was it just with Avalon?

He could assume the answer, but he didn't want to openly admit that he may or may not have a special liking towards Avalon. Because if he did, then it meant he was going to put her in danger...more than what the letter (the one Avalon received last year by a mysterious sender) warned she was already in. He couldn't do that to her.

"I didn't mean to…" Avalon's quiet voice pulled the Doctor from his thoughts. She was aware of what he'd reminded him of. "I just...I thought…" she shook her head. "Sorry. I'll just tell Lena to get rid of it. Never happened right?" She looked at Any and Rory for some help.

"Right," the two chorused.

"No, no," the Doctor shook his head. "If someone left me a letter with your sister then it must be important. Plus, it means they know that I know Lena and she knows me. We have to."

"I didn't think of it like that," Avalon blinked, newfound concern spreading across her face.

"No harm done. We'll be there in 2 seconds," the Doctor's announcement came late as he pulled the lever on the console, sending the group into a jostling trip to 2011 Leadworth.

~0~

As soon as Lena heard the TARDIS wheezing she knew her big brother was coming. She scurried out of her room and down the stairs, coming out of the house in time to see the group of travelers emerging from the blue box across the street.

"You're here!" she crossed the street in a dash and hugged the Doctor then Avalon. "Gotta admit I thought you might come like a month late or something."

"I wouldn't do that," the Doctor said much too quick then noticed the simultaneous looks from his companions. "Well, I'd try _not_ to do that."

Lena chuckled. She gave Amy and Rory each a hug as well then led all of them back into the house.

"So, Ava says you've got mail for me?" the Doctor asked once they were inside.

"Yeah, it's really weird but it does have your name on it," Lena went directly for the fireplace mantle. She picked up the envelope she was looking for, then came back to the group, holding said envelope out for the Doctor to take. "Dad said we had to give it cos we never know what it could be."

"Where is Dad anyways?" Avalon looked around the house and decided it was far too quiet for her father and Gavin to be there. "And Gavin?"

"Dad's at work and Gavin is on a play date," Lena shrugged. "Just me."

"...and you're okay?"

Lena knew the look that Avalon was giving her. It was the same concerned one she always did. "Avalon, I'm fine. You keep travelling, alright? But if you want to open that letter here I wouldn't mind," she said ever-so-innocently.

The Doctor gave her a smirk. "Can't help yourself, can you?"

"Nooo!" Lena admitted with a scrunched face. "I keep wondering if it's like a letter from the Queen? From UNIT? Or, I don't know some alien people? Could you open it, please?"

The Doctor shrugged in a 'why not?' manner and ripped the envelope open. He pulled out a small slip of paper and found…

"Coordinates?" Amy had been right behind him and as soon as she said what she saw, the Doctor threw her a look for her nosiness. She smiled awkwardly and stepped back beside Rory.

"Is it really just coordinates?" Lena asked, sounding (and looking) very disappointed that all the hype had been for measly coordinates.

"In my experience-" Avalon swiftly pulled the slip of paper from the Doctor's hand, ignoring his look, "-it's not the coordinates that gives the thrill, it's the destination! I wonder where this leads to?"

"In some experiences-" Rory began with a clearing of his throat, "-maybe following an invitation won't lead to good things."

Avalon, Amy and Lena immediately understood.

Lake Silencio.

"Oh...oh he's right," Lena suddenly went, swallowing hard. Oh, she felt guilty now. What if it was a trap? What if this was the way the Doctor ended up in Lake Silencio where he was murdered?

"Maybe we shouldn't follow it," Avalon very slowly put the slip of paper behind her back. "Maybe...maybe we should just ignore it and go back to the TARDIS."

The Doctor took note how each of his companions slowly fell - like dominoes - into apprehensive states. "Okay, what is going on? What did I miss?"

"Nothing," Rory shook his head, but his eyes kept flickering to the women.

"That!" the Doctor pointed at him. "Why are you doing that?"

"Doing what?" He looked again.

"That!"

"What?"

The Doctor deadpanned Rory then decided to switch and turned to Amy. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," the ginger folded her arms. Though she was lying, she was doing it much better than Rory. One would almost believe her.

"Big brother, I think they're just thinking logically," Lena's explanation pulled the Doctor her way. "I mean, it could very well be a trap."

"Well, yes, but it also means we need to follow it or else they might do something worse to get my attention."

"But they might not…" Lena put on her best smile for him, but it wasn't enough to deter his intentions.

He turned to Avalon and walked towards her, only to have the ginger backtrack the same steps. "Avalon, give me the paper," he held his hand for it but she shook her head.

"I think we should really consider this whole 'trap' thing--" she was starting to say, but now he shook his head.

"-that's nice but I'm still going to need that. Hand it over."

"No!"

"You were just saying how curious you were of what the destination was!"

"That was before I realized it could be a trap! A dangerous trap!"

"Give me the paper!" the Doctor exclaimed just as Avalon's back hit the wall.

"No! And I am not afraid to stuff it into my mouth!"

The Doctor scrunched his face at such an awful threat. He looked back at the others only to see that their faces. It was not a hollow threat, apparently. The Doctor groaned and rubbed a hand down his face. "Avalon Reynolds, give me the paper or so help me I will--"

But Avalon quickly stuffed it into her mouth. The _paper_. She stuffed the paper into her mouth.

The Doctor had to blink for a moment as he decided whether or not he'd just seen her actually do that. His mouth had certainly nearly hit the ground when he realized that she _had_ done it.

"Avalon!" Rory reprimanded was as horrified as the Doctor. "Spit that out! You don't know where that thing's been!"

Avalon was crinkling her nose as an interesting flavor caught her tongue. "...sho?"

"Oh this is childish, even for you," the Doctor grabbed her by the chin. Rory was absolutely right. For all they knew, that paper could be laced with poison. "Spit it out! Now!"

" _No_!"

"You can't swallow that whole!"

Avalon's face said 'watch me'. It was in these moments that the Doctor honestly found her annoying. At times it was endearing the way she frustrated him -- because they often fought the same way -- but other times like these, he nearly shook her until her head fell off. 

"Forget it!" He let her go and headed for the door.

"Where are you going, big brother?" Lena worriedly called. He didn't look very deterred, more like exasperated with the situation.

"I saw the coordinates, I can very much do it from memory!"

Avalon then spit the paper out and made a 'yuck!' noise afterwards. "Really thought that would work."

"If anything, you just motivated him to do it," Amy shook her head with a sigh. "C'mon, we better go with him."

"But what if it really is part of the Lake Silencio trap?" Avalon felt her heart constrict at the memories of what she saw.

"Then let's make sure it doesn't happen," Amy purposely strode towards the door.

"Seriously, Ava, eating paper?" Rory stopped by the woman with the same disapproving look as before.

"I'd eat anything if it meant Lake Silencio never happens," Avalon stomped her foot over the wad of paper on the floor and swished it until it tore into pieces.

"I'm coming too," Lena announced just before she headed for the door as well. "If there's a chance of stopping this murder then I'm coming!" Avalon wouldn't even attempt to fight her sister on this one because if roles were reversed she'd do the same thing.

The Doctor had already inputted the coordinates he believed were fairly right when the rest of the group entered the TARDIS. He threw a specific look at Avalon. "Oh, you finished your snack, then?"

"Screw off," she snapped. "I'm trying to stop you from falling into a trap."

"I didn't need your help."

"I think you do," Avalon said so uniquely certain that the Doctor stopped a moment to read her expression better. She didn't look like her usual self trying to play games. She was on business.

But what kind of business?

Well, she'd never tell him to his face, that much he knew.

"Lena, you're coming?" Hr instead chose to change subjects for the time being.

Lena nodded her head. "This person knew our address so I'd like to know who it is," she so easily lied.

"Just take it easy, then," the Doctor warned before heading back for the console. He didn't know what he was getting into but he was awfully curious as well.

~ 0 ~

The TARDIS brought the group into dark woods. The trees seemed endlessly tall, reaching far up into the gray sky. Some of them were pink and the others were a dark gray, making the latter blend in the sky.

"This place looks like a Halloween movie waiting to happen," Amy remarked after stepping on the mushy pink grass.

"Pink leaves?" Avalon made a face. She held a hand out to catch one of the dozens of falling pink leaves from the sky. "Okay, where are we?"

"I'm hoping it's the right place since, you know...you _ate_ my coordinates," the Doctor walked up beside her.

She met his sharp look with a glare. "I'd do it again," she said with nothing but honesty.

"Where are we, though?" Rory walked a few steps with Lena, both awed by the incredibly tall trees.

The Doctor whipped out his sonic and scanned the area. He then brought it close to his ears and listened. "I don't like this…"

"Me neither," Lena admitted.

"Maybe it means we should go back," Amy said with a face indicating she fully meant her words.

"Don't think so, Pond," the Doctor wagged a finger at her. "If anything...no, hold on. Don't touch anything!" He warned then dashed back into the TARDIS.

Soon as he was in, the group quickly gathered together and spoke in hushed voices.

"This looks nothing like Lake Silencio. Should we still be worried?" Lena whispered first.

"Yes," Avalon instantly answered. "For all we know this is where it all starts. If it was up to me, I'd have already knocked the Doctor out and we've be off somewhere else."

"Is violence your answer to everything?" Rory gave her a look that suggested she answer carefully.

"I'm scared," she said with an uncharacteristically frail tone. Her anger and annoyance dropped the moment she spoke with utter honesty. "The Doctor's 909 right now which means somewhere along the way we lose him for nearly two hundred years and even then the versions who see him again aren't _us_. That means...we lose him. _Period_. So I want to make damn sure that it doesn't happen."

"Yeah but we also have to be very careful. Remember what River said about interfering with the future?" Amy's reminder didn't make any positive effect.

"With all due respect, I could give less of a crap about timelines right now. If I can stop the Doctor's death then I will. Everything else be damned." Avalon stepped away only to get a sensation that she was being watched...or rather they were being watched. She turned around, eyes keenly flickering from one tree to the next.

"What?" Lena inched closer to the trio.

"I thought I just...I don't know," Avalon shook her head. She was being paranoid...but for a good reason.

"I've been here before!" They all heard the Doctor's cry as he bolted from the TARDIS into the woods, leaving the others to exchange a quick look amongst each other before running after him.

"What do you mean you've been here before?" Amy called since she was the closest behind the Doctor.

"As in, I've been to this planet before!" the Time Lord repeated himself. He had his sonic held out as far his arm would stretch. "It was a desert planet, predominantly. But now it's sprouted life, grew foliage!"

"I thought that would be a good thing?" Rory's statement turned more into a question considering they were running for some reason, not to mention the Doctor looked panicky.

The Doctor came to a skidded stop, making Amy crash into his back while the others had to do the same skid to stop. "I came here last year in the planet's history. There was an indigenous species: humanoids. Now there isn't."

"Okay, we see the problem," Avalon cleared her throat and looked to the side.

"I think the entire ecosystem of this planet changed in a hurry and it had horrible consequences," the Doctor looked out in despair at the environment.

"Okay but...this path," Lena pointed at one single clear path between two trees, "It looks man-made."

"Made by _something_ ," the Doctor corrected as he moved to her side. He stared at the long pathway and wondered what could be waiting at the end.

"You do realize that's the trap, right?" Amy's question meant nothing to him.

"Obviously," he shrugged. "It's also a trap for me. Very flattering, actually."

"You're an egomaniac," Avalon rolled her eyes. Of course he'd appreciate a trap specifically made for him. "We have to go. You have no idea what's waiting for you."

"Well then, the only way to find that out is to go down the path." The Doctor fixed his jacket and started walking on the path, not leaving much of a choice for the others but to follow.

As they went further down, they started to discover corpses of different aliens...very powerful, very old alien corpses. The Doctor presumed they'd been drained since there were no physical injuries like stabs or bullets. The more they walked, the more corpses they would discover.

"Okay, maybe we need to stop," Lena said after discovering their tenth corpse. "It's obvious these creatures followed the same coordinates and got themselves killed. Big brother…"

"There's an energy signature nearby," the Doctor was following his sonic again, though he admitted to himself he was beginning to get a little nervous as well. They'd gone quite the way already and so far all they'd seen were corpses. Whoever wanted him here must be powerful and clever. Not a good combination if you're the bad guy.

"And you want to keep going," sighed Amy.

"Well, best way to uncover a trap is to run into it!"

"Who taught you to think this way?" Avalon asked with a frown. She followed closely behind him but bumped into his back when he abruptly stopped.

"What the hell is that?" Rory was the first one out of the companions to see what the Doctor had found.

It was a large, silver and metal craftship...least it looked like it was. It was on its side, indicating it had to have crashed or something along those lines. Smoke was still billowing from it.

The Doctor put his sonic away and stepped closer to it, trying to inspect any obvious markings from it. He found one protruding triangle shape on a side that was glimmering blue. The Doctor raised his hand and let it hover over the triangle, confirming that it was for someone to press their palm on it.

"Okay, so _this_ is probably the trap," Lena stared at the craft with a deep scowl.

"I think there might be something inside of it, actually," the Doctor lowered his hand to his side. "Well, I never could resist pressing a big mysterious button."

"Oh no!" Avalon exclaimed. "You cannot be seriously thinking about just putting your hand on that weird triangle thing!"

"Yeah, Doctor, isn't there a better way of figuring out what this is?" Rory eyed the glimmering triangle with wear. It was begging to be pressed which, in turn, spoke a lot about the party responsible for this trap. They seem to know the Doctor very well.

"What if this is what happened to the corpses out there?" Amy jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "They came here, pressed that button and got the life drained out of them?"

"Well then, we'll just have to find out-" the Doctor reached a hand for the triangle, when Avalon latched onto it.

"-don't you dare you stupid man!" she shouted and pulled him back.

"Ow! Avalon stop this!"

"No! I won't let you touch that thing!"

"You're on one extra today, you know that!?"

Avalon successfully pushed him away from the craft and positioned herself right in front of the glimmering triangle. "If it means that I'm saving your life, then yeah. C'mon, you're not thinking straight!"

"I am, actually," the Doctor frowned at her. "It just seems like you're hellbent on irritating me today."

"Ditto," she crossed her arms.

The Doctor raised his hands, indicating he was done with her and this situation. He strode towards her and tried pushing her away to press that damn button. However, she once again proved she had strange strength as she curled her arm around the one he was using to reach the triangle and pulled back.

"Should we stop them?" Lena quietly asked Amy and Rory.

"Nah, I think she's on the right one," Amy nodded. "And she's the strongest of us all, no offence Rory."

Rory rolled his eyes.

"Doctor, stop!" Avalon continued but the Doctor pushed through and pressed the button...with Avalon's hand over his. As soon as their hands made contact against the triangle, a light struck and captured them.

"What!?" Amy's eyes bulged. Okay, maybe this hadn't been their best idea after all.

"What's going on!?" Lena moved forwards but Rory yanked her back despite hearing the collective cries from the Doctor and Avalon.

"It _was_ a trap, what else?" Rory groaned.

"I have you now, Doctor!" hissed a new, albeit familiar, voice. "Aaaaall your moments, your many meeeeemories, they all belong to me nooooow! You have so muuuuuuch to remember and now the Scream will neeeeeever be forgotten!"

"Oh my God…" Amy was the first one to see the owner of the voice. "Not again...I thought we were done with them…"

One lone Silence in a white suit stood behind the craft. However, this Silence had the word 'Scream' carved at the top of its elongated head.

"How did - you're supposed to be dead!" Rory spat with the same hatred Amy owned.

"You are none of myyyy concern," the creature curtly retorted.

"You have my sister and my big brother, it is _all_ of our concern," snapped Lena. "You release them right now or the same thing that happened to the other Silence will happen to you!"

"My breeeeethren are dead but I surviiiiive because not even _theeeey_ remembered me," it responded and fairly confused the trio. "You seeeeee, I was very good aaaaat being Silent. But nooooow with the Doctor's memoooories, _everyone_ will know who I aaaaam. Everyone will knoooow who the Scream is."

"Oh, nice, carve your name into your head, then," Amy shivered.

"Enough!" Lena shouted and went for a metal bar lying on the ground, no doubt having broke off the from the craft. "Let go of them!" she brandished the bar at it, but hearing the agonizing screams of her sister and the Doctor made her bravery falter.

"What are you going to do with the memories?" Rory couldn't finish understanding how stealing the Doctor's memories would make the Scream be known...that is until Amy pointed at something inside the craft.

"There's something _growing_ inside of that thing!"

Indeed there was a glowing white light inside the craft, taking the form of a creature but no features could be seen yet.

"...help me…" they heard the quiet, almost frail voice of whatever was inside.

"Did it talk?" Lena held the metal bar tighter in her hand. "Where'd it come from? Where'd it-"

"-thisssss is whyyyy I needed youuu, Doctor," the Scream suddenly went, turning gleefully at the craft. "After all, you aaaaare so very, very old. 909 years. All the tiiiiime and space. All you've seeeeen. You are a legend. Who has moooore memories than youuuu?"

"Wait, are his memories making that happen!?" Amy shook her head fervently. "But Avalon's in the mix...how…" her eyes widened when something new came to mind. She raised her head to the craft, specifically to where the creature was growing inside. "Are _they_ creating that!?"

"Memories are life itself. And I knew that if I had enough of them I could feed this. A machine of my own genius. A memory and engine! All I needed was to find this very special forest."

"Where _are_ you doing?" Rory demanded from the Scream.

"Legend caaaaalls it the Planting. Some miiiiiight call it an organic virus, however. Iiiiit arrives on a plaaaaanet in sapling form. It takes roooooot, then it grows, spreads, covers the entire gloooobe. It's march is irreversible. Then, once iiiiits invasion is complete, it groooooows another sapling. And then it replaces allllll indigenous life there. And _that_ \--" the Scream moved up to the craft where the creature was growing, "--iiiiis what's growing insiiiiide here. The next Sapling. I captured it. It waaaaas ready to move on...to propagate the forest oooon its next planet. And it willlllll. But this time there will be a difference. The engines I aaaaaam stealing from those two aaaaare their memories. Pure lifeforce for a neeeeew creation. I'm going tooooo step inside this canister nooooow. My body will be destroooooyed but my mind will endure. Using the energiesssss I will take control of the Sapling. I will find a new planet aaaaand plant myself in the memoriessss of all. I'll cover the entire world. After all, iiiiif you can't turn your back ooooon the Scream, then you can never forget it."

"You are mad!" Lena screamed at the creature. "My sister is in that, you idiot!"

"Yesssss, the Reynolds girl. Kovarian can 'bite it', as you humansssss would say."

"Who the hell is Kovarian?"

"Uuh...guys?" Amy had gotten closer to the craft, careful not to get so close to the Scream. The white light inside the craft had started to die down and showcased a tree-like creature inside. It had legs and arms and a head...like what a baby would have.

"Gooooooodbye pitiful humansssss," the Scream said. He pulled one metal piece off the craft and started climbing into the same spot where the other creature was growing...but he had not yet met a furious Lena Reynolds.

The woman furiously screamed as she ran towards the craft. She started banging her metal bar against it, shattering whatever glass was around. She was only careful not to touch the triangle her sister and the Doctor were trapped by.

"What are youuuuu doing!?" the Scream cried from the inside. "Youuuuu irritating-"

Lena swung the metal bar at his face, knocking the creature to the side of the wall. She then brought it down against him three more times.

"Woah," Amy was stunned.

"Amy!" called Rory. He had begun searching for a weapon of his own and found a metal piece as well, though a bit smaller than Lena's. "Follow her lead!"

Amy quickly looked for a weapon of her own and, thankfully, spotted a piece of what appeared to be part of an engine. "What now!?"

"We break that thing out!" Lena huffed after she finished with the Scream then turned to the area where the creature was inside.

"What!? You want to let the monster out!?" Rory looked at her like she'd lost it.

"Didn't you hear Amy? That thing is part Avalon, part Doctor. It might be the only thing that can save them!" Lena hurried up to the glass and peered inside. The creature had purple pupils that seemed to carry stars inside. That was a bit weird, but still...it was their only hope. "Okay little guy, or girl...if you can hear me, please help us. Help Avalon and the Doctor...or they must just die."

She didn't know if the creature could talk, but she definitely knew that it had understood. Its eyes had seemed to narrow and maybe it nodded its head? "Cover those star eyes," she warned. "Amy! Rory!"

"This could just be the way we all die," Rory said once he had come up next to her.

"Or save us all," Amy added.

"Go!" Lena said then started banging against the other side of the glass. Once Amy and Rory joined in, the glass began to crack until it shattered. They immediately backtracked as the creature started climbing out.

"Oooh, I really hope it doesn't kill us," Rory whispered to Amy while his eyes followed every movement of the creature.

Its entire body was a white shade with tinges of pink around its body. It resembled tree bark but it ultimately looked scared. It wobbled on its feet once it stood up for the first time. It then raised its head at the trio and blinked.

"Please," Lena clapped her hands together. "Please save them...they'll die if you don't...they created you…"

The creature turned its head towards the Doctor and Avalon. The life force was definitely being drained out of them, leaving their skins a bit shriveled. It started walking around them, missing how Lena and the other two slowly stepped in the same direction to see what would happen. Suddenly, it slammed both its hands against the triangle - albeit pushing both Avalon's and the Doctor's hands further inside - and shattered it. The energy trapping the two disappeared and down they went.

"Oh thank God!" Lena breathed a sigh of relief and ran towards her sister. "Avalon!"

"Doctor!" Amy went for the Time Lord. Rory ran up afterwards and examined the two's bodies from where he stood. "They're returning to normal, look."

Avalon's and the Doctor's skin were returning to normal indeed. In a matter of minutes, it was as if nothing happened to them...well…

"Oooooow my hand!" Avalon whimpered as she opened her eyes. "My hand's broken!"

"Ow, blimey, mine too," the Doctor sat upright and crinkled his nose at his right hand. "That's quite some strength…"

"Avalon!" Lena hugged her sister tightly. "Oh thank God you're okay! I was so scared-"

"-yeah, and you beat the crap out of that alien," snickered Amy. "That was good!"

"Alien? What alien?" the Doctor frowned at the ginger, making Amy immediately stop laughing.

"The Scream, what else?"

"The what?"

Amy made a face then glanced at Rory and Lena. Was he actually being serious?

"Why can't...why can't I remember where we are?" Avalon stared at the pink forest in honest confusion. "Or...or my Mum? Oh my God, I can't remember my Mum!"

"Okay, what's going on?" Rory bent down in front of the two. "Doctor, do you remember why we're here?"

"Well, there was a trap...and then...lots of light, but, um...I was fighting something...a big, um…" but the man trailed off as he too couldn't remember.

"Oh, this is bad," Amy started getting up from the ground. She looked at the craft. "It must have made them forget some things."

They then started hearing a groan coming from the craft. Golden energy mixed with the same white light from before now covered the Scream when it climbed out. He seemed like somebody on fire. "Doctor! What haaaaave you done to meeee!? Yourrrr memories! They burrrrrn! The Sapling haaaas the resssst of the memories!"

"Saplings?" frowned Rory but then he looked over and saw the creature that'd rescued the Doctor and Avalon. "Ooh...that...Sapling…"

The Sapling, in turn, just blinked like a confused child would.

"Give themmmm to meeeee!" the Scream demanded but Amy hurriedly put herself in front of the Sapling, making Rory nearly lose it.

"Amy! Don't do that!"

Amy extended her arms and raised her head as the Scream came towards them. "You are not touching it - him...I mean...oh I don't know if it's a girl or a boy. Either way, you're not touching them!"

"Oh that's who we were fighting," the Doctor pushed himself up to his feet. "Right, um, run back to the TARDIS?"

"Works for me," Lena pulled Avalon up by her good hand. "C'mon!"

The Doctor led the run with Lena and Avalon right behind him. Rory pulled Amy - who then pulled the Sapling creature - after them and ran for dear life.

The Scream cried for them to stop and started firing jets of white energy at them.

"What the hell are those!?" Avalon ducked before one of them burned the top of her head off.

"Memory energies!" the Doctor exclaimed. "He stored them all up in that gizmo of his but when Lena banged it up, half of the energies went to it and the other half to the, um...Sapling!"

"That machine sucked out my memories!?" Avalon screamed. "And now it has them!?"

"Unfortunately, yes!"

"I want them back!"

"Priorities, Ava!"

The chase to the TARDIS was a long one, but not something they hadn't done before. The Doctor was the first to reach the blue box and hastily opened the door for the others to get in. "C'mon! C'mon! C'mon!"

Lena and Avalon went in first.

"It's still coming, Doctor!" Rory looked over his shoulder to see the Scream close on their tails.

"Out of my way," Avalon practically pushed the Doctor to the side as she re-emerged from the TARDIS.

"What - hey!"

Avalon ignored him as she aimed a blaster in her good hand. Her eyes narrowed once she had her target in perfect sight. She pulled the trigger and fired a deep red energy that hit the Scream square in the chest. Its body was thrown a good distance away, alive, but injured nonetheless.

"In! In! In!" the Doctor then pulled her inside and made a run for the console.

"Where'd you get that from?" Rory was quick to take the blaster from Avalon.

"River Song gave it to me," Avalon smirked. "I really like that woman. She gets me."

"Nooo!" Rory waved the blaster in the air. "You are not keeping this!"

"It's what saved your ass!"

The TARDIS gave a light jolt as it sprung into space, bringing them all to decent safety. There and then, everyone gave a collective sigh of relief.

"That was close…" the Doctor rubbed his forehead.

"I told you it was a trap!" Avalon stormed up to him, forgetting about her blaster for the moment. "But you wouldn't listen!"

"Oh, so now it's my fault!?" the Doctor turned to face her smaller figure.

"YES!" she shouted. "You literally took us there! You led us down the path! You--"

"--if I hadn't then it just would've found another way to bring us there!"

"Oh, so you were just saving the guy the the trouble? Really smart."

"HEY!" Amy clapped her hands to get their attention. If she didn't cut in, she was sure they would've gone for hours like this. "Look, it happened and that's that but I think you're forgetting about something else that happened." The Doctor and Avalon both gave her the same puzzled looks. She groaned and pointed to the Sapling creature standing at the doorway.

The Sapling was staring at the place, eyes flickering from one part of the console to the next. Although the more one would study it, the more one would realize the heaviness that sat in the creature's eyes.

"Oh," the Doctor shook his head, snapping him out of his stupid argument. Amy was right. They needed to focus on something much more important.

"What is it?" Avalon quietly asked.

"Oh, Ava. ' _It_ ' is my least favorite third-person, singular neuter pronoun. ' _It_ ' is the magic word that enables every grubby little tyrant for a million years in any direction to turn people into things," the Doctor turned to the creature. "He. Clearly, he's a he." But then he paused and looked at the creature again. "You are a 'he' right?"

The Sapling seemed confused yet scared at the same time. "...can I go away and think about it?"

"Talks," Lena blinked. "He talks…"

"He, yes, I'm a 'he'," the Sapling said after a moment. Well, his voice was a bit lower. "And you…" he pointed one finger to the Doctor and moved it between him and Avalon, "...you are my progenitors."

"Excuse me?" Avalon raised an eyebrow.

"Means we're...well...we created him," the Doctor said slowly, not really wanting to look at her right now. His face felt a bit warm.

As soon as Avalon got it, she felt her face warm up too.

"Oh! I get it!" Lena exclaimed happily. "You guys had like a cosmic plant baby!"

"Lena!" went both Avalon and the Doctor in unison.

"He's not really...like...yours...is he?" Rory asked more quietly after a moment. "Looks nothing like you, for starters."

"It's not always about looks, Rory," sighed the Doctor. "Especially when there's a Time Lord in the mix. My memories and Avalon's memories created him."

"I have your memories," the Sapling spoke slowly, almost sounding cautious since they were all debating the validity of his origins. "I think I know everything about you both. Hello…"

A grin came to the Doctor's face. Okay, that may have sounded like him. "Hello!"

The Sapling almost gave a smile, but he noticed Avalon's weary face on him. "You do not believe..."

"Well," Avalon rubbed her arm nervously. "I mean, it's technically like...I'm your mother...but...I'm not really. I mean...I can't have a kid. Much less with the likes of him!"

The Doctor took great offence when she jerked a thumb his way. "Oi!"

"What?" she frowned. "No offence, but it takes more than a machine to get me to have a kid with you, alright?"

"I don't quite like that tone," he turned to her, once again igniting the fuel for another argument. "Sounds a bit condescending."

Avalon snorted. "Oh c'mon, you wear bow ties and a fez! Seriously? You don't get _this_ \--" she gestured at herself, "--so easily."

"I'll have you know that I have a rakish charm!" the Doctor argued. "Not to mention that I'm a Time Lord! I'm the scourge of Gallifrey! I'm hot stuff!"

"Ha!" Avalon genuinely laughed. "Now that was funny!"

"Oh God just get a room already," Amy groaned and pulled them apart. She completely missed Rory's disapproving look for her words. "We can't argue about this when it's already done. Congratulations, you're parents. Deal with it."

"Easy for you to say! You didn't just conjure up a genocidal tree child with some alien!" Avalon was quick to point out, and it was a fairly good point. It was also the point that made the Doctor realize she was scared. And instead of helping her, he was arguing with her.

"I'm scared." The admission did not come from Avalon, however. All eyes turned to the Sapling. His star eyes gazed at the group sadly, and yet feebly like a child would. "Mother is right. My sole purpose is to destroy. I don't want to destroy a world."

Avalon's face softened after making her own realization. The Sapling sounded like her little brother, a child, stuck in the body of a destroyer.

The Sapling looked over his shoulder, towards the closed doors. "He'll come looking for me, won't he? The Scream?"

"I'm afraid so," the Doctor hated to admit because it was just going to make the child more afraid.

"I have the memories of a Time Lord and my genetic programming predisposes me towards genocide. I am the most dangerous weapon in the universe. The safest thing you could do is destroy me right now. Before I grow."

"Oooh...my heart…" Lena almost whimpered as she looked at Avalon and the Doctor. "We can't turn him away. You won't, will you?"

"Of course not," the Doctor walked up to the Sapling and gently turned him around. "We don't destroy. At all. You're not going anywhere, mister."

The Sapling wanted to smile but he looked around the Doctor, towards Avalon as if waiting for her to say the opposite.

"Oh God," sighed Avalon. "This is seriously the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me. No, dear Sapling, you will not go anywhere. Apart from the fact you now own a good part of my memory, you are...me…" the last part was a bit strained, mind you, but reasonable. "We don't destroy. But don't touch my journal. I assume you know what that is, right?" The Sapling nodded his head, though now there was a clear smile on his face. "Good. Now Rory, can you please fix my hand? It's very much broken."

Rory nodded. "Yeah. Most normal thing I can do right now. Come."

Avalon walked after Rory, but her gaze lingered on the Sapling until she disappeared.

"Is he right, big brother?" Lena asked afterwards. "Is the Scream coming again?"

"Yes, but... I'm sure by the time he finds us...we'll have a plan." The Doctor really hoped he was right because they already had a lot to deal with as it was.

"That's, uh, not very reassuring," Amy pointed out.

"All we have so far, Pond."

"Is it safe for me to go home, then?" Lena asked a very good question. In fact, it made her wonder if she should tell her father about this so that he knew not to come home either.

Luckily, though, the Doctor seemed to have a plan for that.

~0~

"There we go, all good now," Rory gave Avalon a smile after finishing up bandaging her broken hand. He got up from his seat next to Avalon and returned the bandages to a cupboard. He'd gotten himself familiarized with the infirmary almost as soon as he'd arrived to the TARDIS.

He was a nurse, after all.

"How long will it take to heal?" Avalon ruefully stared at her hand. She hated that her healing abilities only extended to internal issues. A cold? No problem. One broken bone? Actual problem.

"About 3 weeks or so."

"What?" she frowned then started pouting at the idea she'd have to wear the stupid bandage for a full month.

"Hey, you wanted to be heroic and stop the Doctor from pushing that triangle," Rory reminded, rather like a parent who'd told their child not to do something.

"Fat lot that did," Avalon mumbled. "I'm a mother."

"It's not that bad…"

"Until you have your own tree child, you don't get to opiniate."

Rory bobbed his head. That was fair.

"How we doing?" the Doctor poked his head into the room, really looking like nothing had happened today.

"Great," Avalon raised her bandaged hand with a sour smile. "I get to wear this for a whole month!"

"You're welcome by the way," Rory threw her a sarcastic glance.

"Thank you, Rory," Avalon used her sweetest smile for him but all Rory did was go 'mhm' and leave the room.

"Just so you know, I had to put a shield around your family's home," the Doctor informed Avalon afterwards. Seeing her alarmed face, he quickly added, "It's actually highly unlikely that the Scream will go there when it needs the Sapling. Still, just a precaution."

"Great," Avalon sighed. "How will Lena explain that to Dad?"

"The shield? Ah, don't worry about that. Completely invisible. It'll keep out any Scream, any Silence, pretty much anything related to this species."

"Well, thanks," Avalon leaned back in her seat. Her fingers seemed to awkwardly fumble with each other until she was able to string together the words she wanted to say in one go. "What, um, what's going to happen to...the Sapling? Will he hurt us?"

The Doctor didn't seem to think about it too much before he shook his head. That had to mean he was certain, right? Avalon wanted to think so.

"He's a child, Ava. I know it's weird, but...he really is just a child."

"But not an ordinary one," she quietly pointed out for many obvious reasons.

"Yes," he agreed. With a sigh, he took Rory's seat next to hers. "I know it's odd, everything that happened but...you know that I would never keep anyone or anything who could hurt you - you, Amy and Rory."

"But what the Scream said about him... he's supposed to destroy worlds…"

"Ava, you know very well that no one is born ready to destroy worlds. I believe that if we raise the Sapling with all the right morals, he will do a lot of good in this world."

Avalon could agree that logic made sense. Still, it left a few other questions still toggling in her head. Rather awkward ones. "Is he really... _ours_?" she forced herself to ask eventually. "Because...well...he's a tree."

The Doctor cleared his throat with the same awkwardness. "Genetically speaking, no he's not ours. But we did make him. We...gave him life. Am I explaining it right?"

"I'm blushing so maybe," she chuckled.

The Doctor could smile at that. "Our lives, our memories... that's what created him. So, technically, he is ours."

"Just not genetically," Avalon finished in hopes of finally understanding this whole mess. When the Doctor nodded, she sighed in relief. "Okay. Great. I mean not great but, you know…"

"I understand," the Doctor assured her that her thoughts were not misplaced. He got it. It was weird, it wasn't at all what someone would want.

Avalon shook her head, as if doing that would get rid of everything. The Doctor took pity of her, and then quickly threw that out because if she were to find out who actually felt pity...she'd kill him.

"It's not that bad," he tried an alternative instead.

Avalon snorted, however, and gave him a crazed look. "Of course not for you! God knows all the weird things you've done."

"I've actually fathered and mothered another child."

Avalon froze. Her big blue eyes blinked wide in alarm. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, not by choice though," the Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. "We got stuck in some war site and they forced my hand into this machine that took a skin sample and...created a person from it, a woman. She was my daughter."

"What…?" Avalon stared at him as if he would take it back, but of course he wouldn't. "Oh my God. You are...truly unbelievable."

The Doctor could only laugh. "Yeah. Donna Noble would say the same thing."

"Who?"

"She was my friend at the time when this happened."

"So...so you've got a daughter, then? Like, from a machine too?"

"Yes, I do."

"Where is she?"

"Oh, you know, probably knocking about somewhere in the world."

"What - you say it so calm like that?"

"It's a long story, Ava. I used to think Jenny was dead until she popped in one day telling me she wasn't. She travels on her own."

"Doctor, in all honesty, what the hell?" Avalon had to laugh at him. "You are so…" her hands moved back and forth to make a gesture but she couldn't come up with the right word to describe him.

"Yeah, yeah," the Doctor shook his head. "Glad to see you're doing better then."

"Oh no, but this makes me feel just a bit better. Now if this--" she raised her broken hand, "--could go away then maybe I could laugh a little more."

"How bad is it?"

"Not bad, really. it's just a have to wear her about 3 weeks or so. Which is kind of annoying for someone like me who likes to use her hands a lot."

"Let's see what we can do about that, then," the Doctor took her broken hand into his, startling her but overall confusing her.

"Rory said it'd be good in 3 weeks. It's annoying but I think I'll survive," Avalon shrugged, though that didn't seem to be good enough for the Doctor.

"Nah. We can speed that up. Mind you, you've got some protruding veins." He was studying the bright blue veins most visible on her wrist, on the same side of her palm.

"Thank you for that," she sarcastically smiled.

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "I just meant I never noticed them." He gently ran a finger over them, definitely feeling more than the average human would tend to but Avalon certainly wasn't human...and she definitely wasn't average.

And there went his thoughts again.

It was frustrating, really, that he couldn't do one simple task involving her that wouldn't end up with him thinking about her in another light. Like, right now, her skin was so smooth and….warm? He could maybe run his fingers over her skin for God knew how much longer.

Avalon really tried ignoring the tingle that had ran down her back after feeling his fingers over her skin. It was stupid. It was definitely never going to happen but...there it was.

A golden energy emitted from the Doctor's hands, wrapping its tendrils around Avalon's hand for a few seconds before it died. It was like it didn't even happen. Avalon blinked as the Doctor let go of her hand. She turned her hand over and flexed it.

"There you go," the Doctor smiled at her. "Good as new."

"That was pretty cool," Avalon had to admit. She put her hands on her lap and smiled back. "Thank you."

"Of course," the Doctor got up from his chair but Avalon called his name before he started to leave.

"My memories - the ones the Sapling has - will I ever get them back?" There was a terrible fear in her eyes when she realized those memories may be lost forever. "Because, because I can't remember Emmalina...at all. Like, I try to picture her but she's...gone."

The Doctor took a seat again and looked her directly in the eyes. "I don't know how to get them back right now but I promise you that I'll restore them. On my lives, I swear I will."

Avalon nodded her head. Of course she believed him. She always did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I've recently been getting myself into the Doctor Who comic stories and the Sapling story was one that called to me because of its relation to the Scream, aka the Silence which is a big theme for this precise story. But of course, just like the series, I did change some of the plot to fit my story!


	6. Road Trip Down Mystery Lane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor proves to his friends that you can very well travel to the 60s via a bus, but none of them could guess who's responsible for screwing up Time.

**A/N: Disclaimer: This chapter's plotline is from Doctor Who's comic stories. Most of the dialogue is directly written from the comic. The plot is NOT mine.**

* * *

Rory stood just by the console's threshold when both Avalon and Amy walked in. He was staring silently at something ahead and when the women followed his gaze, they saw the Doctor and the Sapling sitting by the console conversing.

" _What_ is going on?" Amy asked after hearing a few rambles she couldn't quite keep up with.

"They're just talking," Rory said quietly. "I've been standing here for a good twenty minutes and neither have noticed me."

"Oh God they sound like the same person," Avalon brought a hand to the side of her head.

The Doctor and the Sapling were talking about Gallifrey, from what Avalon managed to hear, and it truly sounded like the Sapling had been on Gallifrey from the way he spoke. But of course that wasn't it. The Sapling held a good portion of the Doctor's memory so naturally he would have memories of the dead planet.

"I've been trying to decide whether or not to go up to them," Rory folded his arms. It sounded like the conversation was nice and he didn't want to interrupt.

"We're going to have to," Amy said with a peculiar sense of certainty. Both Avalon and Rory gave her the same puzzled glances. "I got a call from my Mother. Since she now realizes the Doctor was very real and not a figment of my imagination, she says one of our neighbors has a... _problem_."

"Problem?" Avalon raised an eyebrow. "What kind of problem?"

"The kind only the Doctor can help out with, I imagine. So, who's going to interrupt them?"

There was a quick exchange of looks before the trio started a competition of 'rock, paper, scissors'.

~ 0 ~

"Kushak?" Amy knocked on the door of her childhood neighbor. "Kushak? It's Amy! My mother said you needed help from, uh..." she looked over her shoulder to where the rest of the group stood. The Doctor, who wore one of his usual grins, wiggled his fingers in a 'hello' manner. Amy sighed and continued to knock. "Kushak?

Eventually, the door opened to reveal a short, olive-skinned man. "Ah, Amy," he looked so relieved when he saw the ginger that the others wondered what kind of problem he had. "You came!"

"Uh, yeah, and I brought the Doctor, along with my friends..." Amy made a languid gesture and really hoped that Kushak wouldn't pay a lot of attention to the Sapling. They couldn't just leave him behind, after all.

But it seemed Kushak didn't care. He practically yanked both Amy and the Doctor into the apartment. Once inside, no one had to ask what Kushak's problem was. They could see it plain as day.

"Are they...are they _you_?" Avalon rubbed her eyes twice before deciding to believe she was seeing at least a dozen of Kushak's younger versions in his living room.

"They've, um, they've been chased out of their own time periods and I couldn't just turn them away," Kushak explained, and even that made it sound like he was passed fearful and confused. He just wanted help to fix it now.

"Doctor, what do you think is going on?" Rory whispered to the Time Lord who had yet to say anything.

"I...need to pop back into the TARDIS really quick," he said and turned away so quick and was gone in the same speediness.

"What the hell?" Avalon made a gesture asking for anyone else to explain the reason for his behavior. But of course, no one could.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor hopped back into the TARDIS then took it into space and did a quick survey of the situation from the monitor. Very soon he found another problem, a big problem. There were countless Earth planets making a spiral in space as if it were a strand of DNA. "Well, that can't be good," he tweaked his bow-tie and turned back for the door after landing again.

He emerged in a Leadworth street but unlike the last time, it was nowhere near peaceful. There were soldiers shooting strange white lasers at anything in their pathway, including civilians. "Did I overshoot by a few decades?" He was sure that this time, Avalon would kill him...with the help of Amy.

"Doctor!" He heard Rory's voice. Rory was calling from the front yard of Kushak's home, hiding behind the fence along with the others.

"Get over here, you idiot!" came Avalon's chime.

The Doctor thought that was easier said than done. He crossed through the street until Rory yanked him behind the fence were they were huddling. "What's happened!? How long have I been gone!?"

"An hour!" the Sapling answered, though his tone seemed much more chippier than the others.

"An _hour_!" Avalon scowled.

"Those soldiers came out of nowhere!" Amy said.

"They're who my past selves have all been running from," Kushak explained and had the agreeing nods of all his other younger versions. "Apparently, they've never made it this far before."

"They call themselves 'Sixty-eighters'," one of the younger versions spoke up. "No prizes for guessing where or when they're from, right? They take everything. Up and down the decades they go stealing anything that takes their fancy and killing anyone who gets in their way. And that's what _they_ told me!"

"They told me they started with the seventies and when they'd picked that decade clean they moved on," went another younger version.

"So they're basically intergalactic thieves," Rory shook his head. "Nothing we haven't met already."

"Alright, we need to get back into the TARDIS so we can fix this!" the Doctor poked his head over the fence and saw the chaos had yet to diminish. "We're just going to have to make a run for it. All past-Kushaks, get back into the house, alright? Present Kushak, just follow us. Ready?"

"NO!" went the others in a collective unison.

"That's the spirit! C'mon!" the Doctor made the gesture for them to follow him as he led the way into the street.

"I really hate him sometimes," Avalon groaned as she got up to follow. She grabbed the Sapling's arm and pulled him with her. He had yet to figure out how most of their trips went and she didn't want him to get stuck in a dangerous crossfire like this one.

"Okay Doctor, it's time to explain what the hell is going on," Amy warned the Doctor once they had safely gotten off the planet.

"Right..." he rubbed his hands together and turned to face the group, "Terran geometry won't really do it justice - unless I use dolphin geometry..."

' _Dolphin geometry_?' Avalon repeated in the most comical, confused manner. "Doctor, I know I say this a lot but this time I really do need the answer: what the _hell_ are you talking about?"

"You're right, sorry. Let's try this way: the planet's turned into a four dimensional circular generalized helcoid."

Avalon, and everyone else, stared at him with blank faces.

"Are you saying the planet's gone squiggly?" Kushak asked after witnessing the countless Earths from the monitor.

"See, that we understand," Avalon pointed at the man.

"Plenty of wibbly-wobbly _not_ so timey-wimey," the Doctor flapped his hands on each side.

"Wibbly-wobbley, timey-wimey!" the Sapling cheerfully repeated. "You used to say that a lot, huh?" The Doctor nodded with a small smile on his face.

"So time...has become space...?" Rory wanted to wrap his mind around the situation to better get the concept the danger they were facing. "And Kushak's past selves really just...walked into his house?"

"Yes," the Doctor nodded.

"Should we go get my past selves, then?" asked Kushak, pointing a finger at the doors.

"Nope! Sixty-eighters right? Those men had guns from space and the future, which is a hell of a combination. I have a feeling we can fix all of this with a visit to the swinging sixties."

But just as he was about to take control of the console, something else seemed to do it. A green glow bathed the console and suddenly, the TARDIS jettisoned itself and threw everyone to the ground.

"No! No!" the Doctor was quick to get back on his feet and ran for the console that seemed to be getting farther and farther from them.

"What's happening now!?" Amy picked herself up and was accidentally pushed by the Sapling as he chased after the Doctor and the console.

"We are running!" He cried happily.

"You know-" Amy looked at Avalon with a pointed expression, "-I know he's not biologically yours, but he _does_ act like you."

Avalon rolled her eyes. "Shut up." It was far too weird accepting - and processing - that there was a small creature literally calling her ' _Mother_ ' all the time. He actually believed that she was his mother, and he was right. Technically, he was her _son_. She shuddered. She had a son. Her face went entirely red each time she remembered that she technically had a son with _the Doctor_. That was just too much.

The Sapling had extended his branch-like arms and successfully reached for the console. He put in the right sequence to get the controls back in place.

"Well done, Sapling!" the Doctor gave him a good hug before going to the console.

"I have postponed our certain doom!" the Sapling raised its extended arms into the air.

"You sure have," Rory gave him a side hug and laughed.

"The TARDIS' time circuits are extremely well insulated, so I thought we'd be immune from whatever this force is," the Doctor went around the console, his fingers dancing over the controls, "I guess I was wrong. How embarrassing."

"Why? You've been wrong plenty of times," Avalon came up beside him, flashing him a smirk that widened when he frowned.

"Shut up," he pointed at her, though he quickly pulled it away after Avalon made a move to bite him. She needed to stop doing that because one day he might not be that fast and she would actually bite his fingers.

"Something tried to siphon time from the TARDIS just like it did from the Earth," the Sapling moved up to the Doctor's other side.

"Like petrol from an engine, yes."

"Then we must return to the safety of the 21st century immediately."

"Yeah, somehow that doesn't like a good idea to me," Amy said, willing them to remember the chaos they left behind.

"Don't have much of a choice, Pond - hold on!" the Doctor grinned and pulled down the lever to return them to Leadworth. It was an even more bumpier ride than usual. The TARDIS ricocheted off the buildings until it came to a complete stop on a sidewalk. "Looks like we'll just have to visit the sixty-eighters the old fashioned way," the Doctor stepped out first into a much calmer night street.

"You want us to _walk_ to 1968?" Avalon wondered if he had truly lost it now.

The Doctor stuck his finger into his mouth then raised it into the air. "It should take us about three and a half weeks."

"This is really happening?" Kushak had the same expression as Avalon.

"Yup! Better pack the travel kettle!" the Doctor grinned like he was talking about a casual trip.

"Doctor, shouldn't we go get the other Kushaks?" Rory asked since he assumed they were pretty important to the situation.

"Oh, damn," the Doctor scrunched his face. "Stupid, old man!"

"Um...I don't think that'll be a problem," Amy tugged on his arm and pointed a finger at a double-decker red bus driving towards them. The past selves of Kushak had gathered together and somehow acquired the bus.

"Success!" the Sapling said, prompting the Doctor to repeat the statement a second later.

"Roll up for the Mystery Tour!" One of the versions was riding on the outside and waved an arm for the group to go. "Found this parked up in the depo when the sixty-eighters attacked! We're headed for the twenty-thirties. Are you cats coming, or what?"

Well, there weren't many options so...this would have to do.

~ 0 ~

Four days.

It had been four long, excruciating days of nonstop travelling by bus. As it turned out, due to the time and space mishap, it _was_ possible to _drive_ through time. It was _very_ boring.

"Alright, let's make a stop here," the Doctor rose from his seat. "Ponds! Ava! Take a break and stretch your legs!"

Amy and Rory rose from their seats, happy to leave the chattery bus even for five minutes. The Doctor then made his way down the seats until he came to Avalon's seat. She had the Sapling on her lap, fast asleep like her. Her head was leaned against the window.

"Ava?" the Doctor leaned over to gently shake her arm. "Ava, time to wake up. You need to take a break." The Sapling woke first, ironically, and as he started sitting up Avalon blinked awake.

"Are we there yet?" They both asked.

The Doctor smiled and shook his head. "Not yet. We're in 1985."

Avalon groaned and let her head hit the window again. "I hate road trips."

Suddenly, something red splatted against the window. Avalon's head flinched away with wide eyes. "Are those rotten tomatoes!?"

"You can't stop here!"

"Go back!"

"What's going on?" The Sapling pressed his face against the window for a few seconds before Avalon pulled him back.

Some of the Kushaks, along with Amy and Rory, had climbed off the bus to see the trouble. When Avalon, the Doctor and the Sapling followed, they saw several people yelling at them to go back to their own time.

"Eighty-five for the eighty-fivers!" Some of them collectively shouted.

"Are they for real?" Amy looked back at the trio. She'd seen a lot of insane stuff but this has to be in the top five.

"Enough!" the Doctor yelled over the protesters. "STOP! Look at yourselves! Look at what you've allowed your fear to turn into!" the protesters, now silent, exchanged glances amongst each other. "I have watched this nasty, gray pageant unfolding more worlds than I can count. And it _always_ ends the same way. It ends with children cowering in rank hiding places, too frightened to breath. It ends in old men flinching at any sound louder than a twig snapping. It ends in an ocean of shame. Are you ready for that?" the Doctor ignored the fearful looks of his friends as he walked up to the protesters. "You lot have breathtaking potential and goodness knows you make me smile. But sometimes... sometimes you can be a hard species to love. Go home, all of you! Now!"

There was a moment of pure silence in the street as everyone - _everyone_ \- looked at each other.

The Doctor visibly relaxed once the protesters began to disperse. Major disaster well avoided. He turned to his fitness who were wearing almost identical smiles. "It's weird how you all do that," his finger moved between Avalon, Amy and Rory.

"Well done," Amy gave a mock clap that made the Doctor roll his eyes.

"We should probably be on our way. Better to make a stop somewhere else." He led the way back into the bus.

"Doctor, look who we found!" One of the 90s Kushak called as two more versions walked into the bus behind them. One of versions was an entirely new Kushak who was dressed like a cop.

"Isn't his ponytail great?" laughed the other Kushak.

"Hm, another Kushak," the Doctor seemed surprise as he grabbed the cop-Kushak by the shoulders. Without warning, he opened the man's hand. "Interesting! Very interesting!"

"Doctor, please take your hand out of the man's mouth," Avalon sighed. "And don't you-" she pointed a finger at the Sapling beside her, "-go doing that. We don't do that."

The Doctor grabbed his sonic and examined cop-Kushak from head to toe. "Of course when I said 'interesting' I really meant dire."

"Dire?" Rory caught on fast. He leaned forwards as he asked, "How can this be _more_ dire!?"

As if to answer the question, a blinding light emerged within the bus. It was the same thing that occurred with the TARDIS console getting farther away from them. The bus seats seemed to be in warp speed along with the Kushaks sitting on them. It lasted for a few seconds but it was the craziest few seconds they'd felt.

"Is everyone okay?" the Doctor struggled to stay on his feet after the rumble.

"I feel...edited, mother," the Sapling leaned on Avalon's side, one hand rubbing the side of his head, "My deck has been shuffled."

"Same," she clutched her head. Everything was spinning in her eyes.

"Hey Doctor, are _you_ okay?" Amy noticed the Time Lord was taking a bit longer to come back.

"Yes, yes," he answered but his face was still scrunched in pain. "Whatever's waiting for us in 1968 is still siphoning Time from surroundings areas. Whatever it is, it's never full." He took in a deep breath and finally straightened himself up, though he still kept a hand over the top of a seat's rail. "More and more Time is being converted into space, which means more past and future versions of people and places are being generated all the time."

"Question I'm assuming has a bad answer, but…" Rory raised a finger in the air, "What exactly happens when all of Time has been siphoned?"

"All motions stop. Change becomes impossible."

"I've got another question," Avalon raised her hand almost like Rory had, "Why haven't we met any past selves of ourselves?"

"Because we were off the planet when this happened." The Doctor planted himself in one of the seats and put his hands together on his lap. "You know what? I bet you breakfast on the Titanic there's a space parasite at the bottom of all this. It's always a space parasite."

"Hey, Doctor!" one of the Kushak's called. "You need to hear this!" he grabbed the cop-Kushak they'd just picked up. "Tell them what you just told me!"

"I've been to 1968! I got lost in the smoke. The whole year's sealed off by the biggest wall I've ever seen! The thing looks pretty much impregnable."

"But not impossible," Avalon started smirking, leading the others to wonder what she was thinking about. "I live to smash things — I actually broke into a house one time with Mels."

"Don't be proud of that," Rory pointed a quick finger at her.

She rolled her eyes. "Anyways, I was thinking we use our little Time situation to our advantage. If he's right—" she pointed at the Doctor, "—and we're getting more and more Kushaks along the way, why don't we make an army to break the wall?"

"I hate armies," the Time Lord scowled as he rose from his seat.

"Yes, but it's not the type of army you hate. I just mean we use all our numbers to smash that wall down."

"She's got a point," Amy said, leaning closer to Avalon. "We can get power tools and pretty much anything we could use to smash the wall."

"So we're just going to pick up more Kushaks until we get to 1968?" asked Rory.

"Aha!" Avalon grinned.

"Yeah, I guess we are," the Doctor shrugged. It seemed pretty logical and it wasn't at all the army he thought of.

And so, the rest of the trip was done quicker as it made more stops to pick up any Kushak that crossed their path. Each stop they also acquired more power tools to build up their muscle.

Until they finally reached the year where a huge, gray wall stood. Several double-decker buses pulled up to let the massive army of Kushak's selves.

"Am I crazy or can I hear Jimi Hendrix?" asked one of the versions as they gathered in front of the wall.

"I think I do hear some music," Avalon put a hand behind her ear, but the sounds were garbled with the louder electricity crackling at the top of the building. They were pretty determined to keep everything out, whoever was on the other side.

"Alright everybody," the Doctor stood in front of the army. "What's the first rule for dealing with bullies?"

"We beat them up before they beat us up?" Avalon was the first, and fastest, to respond. The Doctor shook his head at her. "What? We're not supposed to do that?"

"Oh for the love of — everybody!" Amy raised her axe in the air. "Smash the thing down!"

"YEAH!"

Everybody ran towards the wall and smashed it with all their might, but it only did so much. After half an hour, some of the Kushaks were beginning to get discouraged.

"It's not...working!" Rory took in a deep breath after one particular heavy smash.

"Yes, I know," the Doctor stepped back and pulled out his sonic. He tapped it against his chin as he wondered what more they could to do apply the right pressure against the wall. "Oh," he blinked and suddenly looked at his sonic. "I can calculate the natural vibrational frequency of the wall…"

"You couldn't have done this half an hour ago?" Avalon scowled at him, her hands gripping her own axe.

"I didn't think of it," he admitted in embarrassment. "Alright everybody, stand back!" he took aim on the wall with the sonic and in two minutes flat there was an explosion in the wall.

"Hey! Uncool!" someone from the other side yelled, "This is a private be-in, man!"

On the other side of the wall there seemed to be a party going on. A wicked party. People were dancing to the blaring music. The wall, from their side, were decorated with peace signs and other colorful pictures.

"1968 is a _party_!?" Avalon shrieked. "And we weren't invited!?"

"I don't think you're focusing on the right part, Ava," Rory came to stand beside her.

An older man with long hair swayed towards the group with a high-tech gun in his hand. "You guys look cosmic. Ordinarily I'd approve but I think I'm probably going to have to kill you quite soon. Sorry."

"Apology not accepted," scowled Amy who, like the others, had to put their hands up.

"That _is_ Jimi Hendrix," Rory was looking at the very front of the party where a grand stage stood. A man - a very tired looking man - was sitting on a stool playing guitar.

The long-haired man nodded his head. "Yeah, man. His 50th set this month!"

"He doesn't sound very enthusiastic to me," Avalon listened to the strained voice of the musician. It sounded like he was close to falling apart. "Of course if you made me sing 50 sets in a row, I'd be ready to lose it too."

"I'm so confused right now," the Sapling admitted and looked at the Doctor for some help. "What's going on?"

"It's quite obvious my dear Sapling," the Doctor glared at the party crowd. "They're having a _party_ that never has to end. And they're stealing from the future to pay for it."

The long-haired man pressed his gun to the Doctor's forehead, seeming angry for the poor description of their event. "We're not stealing anything, man! Everything we've _retaken_ proceeds from this moment! Without us, you wouldn't have your wafer-thin TVs or your future phones. We birthed your world!"

"Oh, what a load of _crap_ ," Avalon rolled her eyes. "You didn't birth our world."

"Ava, let's not be so mean to the man holding a plasma weapon on me," the Doctor gently stepped away to be free of the metal on his forehead. "Where did you get that, by the way?" he asked the long-haired man.

"From the Wayfarer," the long-haired man pointed to a large, double set red doors opening up beside the stage.

"Two heartssssss," something hissed as tentacles started poking through the opening doors. "You reeeek of tiiiiiime."

A large tentacled creature emerged, resembling an octopus except that where the body should be was just one long neck with a lone eyeball at the top.

While everyone stepped back in fear, the Doctor took a step forwards and tweaked his bow-tie with a smile. "Well, thank you for noticing. Dab or two behind the ears before an adventure, you know."

"Bring meeee your box of deliciousssss tiiiime!"

"Doctor...what are we supposed to do...?" Avalon took another step back as the creature seemed to advance towards them.

"For the moment, let me talk," he mumbled before addressing the creature. "So, what are you supposed to be? You're too...tentacle-y for a Chronovore but time's clearly your snack of choice. The whole spatial conversion thing's a new one on me, by the way."

"I come frooooom the ssssstock of ssssstill outside. The Nunc-stans. Nnnno tick, tock, tick, tock. No chaaaaaange, no grooooowth."

"I see," the Doctor raised his head to face the eyeball looking down on him. "So you're from a timeless dimension where growth and change is impossible. You got your feed under the table of a nice, cozy decade and bribed the inhabitants with cheap alien weapons and even a cheaper party without end. I'm trying to decide which species I'm most angry with here."

"How about the alien that's manipulating humans?" Amy muttered.

"Enough!" snapped the Nunc-stan. "Bring meeee your boxxxxx of time!"

"Can't do that, I'm afraid," the Doctor wagged a finger. "And stop calling my TARDIS 'box of time' will you? She's so much more than that!"

The Nunc-stan dismissed him and instead picked him up with one tentacle. It gathered up Avalon, Amy and Rory with its other tentacles.

"Mother! Father!" the Sapling cried as the Nunc-stan dragged them in the air.

"She's my old and dearest companion!" the Doctor was arguing and perhaps caught a bug in his mouth during one go in the air. "She's a sanctuary - ah! - for the hounded and the wear! She's our home! And not to mention she's _decades_ away from you so forget it!"

"Then what neeeeeed do I haaaaave for you!?"

"It's going to splat us like pancakes!" Avalon cried in horror. Her messy curls were covering most of her face.

"Home...?" The Sapling repeated. He hadn't lived in the TARDIS very long - well, he hadn't lived for a long time in general - but the TARDIS was a fun place so far. He always had long conversations with the Doctor about Gallifrey, and he had a lot of fun watching classic movies with Avalon. He was trying to learn how to heal like Rory did and Amy taught him more vocabulary than just repeating everything he heard. It was _home_.

"Hey...what's wrong with this thing?" The long-haired man noticed the Sapling's shoulders beginning to grow spikes. Even the top of his head was growing spikes too, and long ones.

"Home protected!" The Sapling growled. His feet took root on the ground and suddenly he soared in the air like a long tree, only this tree had a scary face. "Home protected!" It grew higher and higher, way over the Nunc-stan and seized several of the party goers as well as some of the Kushaks.

"Two heartssssss!" the Nunc-stan seemed to cry in pain as the Sapling's branch tentacle wrapped around its body. "Your creature issss killing meeee!" It was forced to let go of the travelers.

"You say feed on time, but know that's not true. Not really," the Doctor had gotten up fast from the ground. "Fear of change! That's what you really feed on! I know you used trans-dimensional tech to get here, so I suggest you hop it before my friend crushes you!"

The Nunc-stan wrapped its own tentacles around itself, pushing and forcing the Sapling to let him go. Gradually, it disappeared into nothing and that was fast.

"No! No! It's leaving!" the long-haired man cried. "Please don't leave us!"

But it was too late.

"Doctor, what are we going to do about the Sapling?" Avalon looked up at the high tree that'd become completely still. "Is he...is he dead?" Her voice had cracked. Oh God, what a 'mother' she was if she let the Sapling die.

The Doctor turned to see her anguished gaze on the tree. "I don't think so," he walked over and turned his attention to the roots. "Here, let's start digging."

Between them and Amy and Rory - since the Kushaks were busy dispersing the rest of the ninteen sixty-eighters - they pulled branches apart until...way at the bottom...

"C'mon Sapling," the Doctor shook off his coat and dug even harder. "This happened in a temporal anomaly so soon it'll be like it never happened. C'mon!"

And then, after one more pull, they found the Sapling tucked inside safe and sound.

"Oh thank God," Avalon visibly exhaled with relief. The Doctor reached inside and pulled the Sapling out.

"Is he alright?" Amy asked as they stood up together.

"Think so," the Doctor examined as best he could with the Sapling in his arms. He seemed sleepy but that was pretty much it. "You and I need to have a serious chat once we're on our way, young man."

The Sapling seemed to be holding onto something and when he uncurled his hand he held the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. His roots had picked it up after the Doctor had been taken into the air. "I...I broke your sonic screwdriver. Am I in trouble?"

The Doctor had a light smile on his face. "Don't worry about it."

~ 0 ~

After returning to the TARDIS - which was a much shorter trip since they had been transported back to 2011 with time being restored - the present-day Kushak was returned home. The Doctor explained he wouldn't be remembering anything since everything that happened was an anomaly. It was a huge relief being able to go home and leaving behind a safe Earth once again.

"We're going to have to work on controlling our powers," the Doctor sat beside the Sapling on the console stairs. The latter seemed very guilty over what happened earlier. He hadn't looked up from the ground ever since he'd awoken completely. "I know it's difficult, mostly because we don't really _know_ what kind of powers you have, but...we can make an effort."

"I am very sorry, father," the Sapling said in a low voice. "I have learned from your example, primarily. Mother has not faced the dangers you have. I take after what you did during the War of Time, the terrible sacrifices you made..."

The Doctor scrunched his face. Of all the times to look at, of course the Sapling would zone in on _that_ time.

"Is that why you went all killer-tree, then?" Avalon's voice pulled the Doctor from his thoughts.

As soon as he saw her coming around the console, he felt _terrible_. She knew everything about the Time War but he didn't want her to keep getting more and more stories of that awful time.

Avalon came up to the two and set her hands on her hips, her gaze landing on the Sapling who'd raised his head for the first time. "You did all that because you saw that's what the Doctor did back then?"

The Sapling nodded his head and the Doctor's shoulders slumped. Now _he_ looked like the guilty one.

"Okay," Avalon drew in a breath before speaking again, "We appreciate what you did, Sapling, but...you can't go doing that willy-nilly. The Doctor's right. We have to control your powers somehow and I doubt creating that whole tree-thing was a good idea right now."

"I will try my hardest, mother, I promise," the Sapling offered one small smile, still fearful that his parents might still be upset with him.

"And you-" Avalon bent down in front of the Doctor, startling the man with her sudden proximity to his face, "-mister, I don't want to see that guilty face."

"What-"

"-soon as you hear 'Time War' you always do the same thing: you become guilty. You heard what the Sapling meant. He drew from the sacrifices you made during that war, not the fights you took part in."

"Ava-"

"-sorry, but that's what he said. So no guilty face." She straightened on her feet and put on a smile. "Now that we've got business out of the way, how's about we do another movie marathon?"

The Sapling jumped at the chance for a movie marathon. "Yes! I love all the movies you've shown me, mother! What are we watching tonight?"

"I don't know, maybe we can let the Doctor choose this time," Avalon held a hand for the Doctor to take since he had yet to say anything. "C'mon, Fairy Tale Man. Don't leave us hanging."

The Doctor glanced at the Sapling and saw the absolute excitement radiating from his childlike face. Avalon was also giving him one of her charming smiles. He couldn't say 'no' to either of them. He took Avalon's hand and just gave in - the story of his life.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

This was such a weird comic to read but I loved it because the bad guys are just throwing a frikin party.

As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	7. The Wedding Crashers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avalon meets alien royalty only for it to blow up in her face! Now it's a race against time to stop a wedding!

"Why do we have to climb up this hill when you could have just materialized the TARDIS up there?" Avalon groaned as she trudged up a hill behind the Doctor who, in comparison to her, had a much more positive attitude in their small endeavor.

He looked back to the ginger with a wide smile of his. "Where's the fun in that?"

"These shoes aren't meant for climbing hills," Avalon pointed to her current choice of shoes as well as then to her clothing, "Nor these."

"Amy once wore a nightie and slippers!"

"Well that's because I was under the impression that when you suggested a small trip to help me sleep I thought you meant something simple like...like watching some stars or something."

"It's either go big or go home," the Doctor declared then stopped. "Besides-" he had come to the hill side that overlooked something he thought she would definitely like, "-this was worth it." He turned around and reached down for her hands. "C'mon, just one big leap and you're there."

Avalon narrowed her eyes. "I hate you," she spat but took his hands anyways.

"Course you don't," the Doctor pulled her up a little too hard which made her almost fall on him. They ended up at a closer proximity than predicted. It wasn't that he minded the closeness - he could _never_ \- but it just...it brought these funny feelings that really shouldn't be happening. He was the first in letting go. Clearing his throat, he spoke up and even with a tinge of genuine excitement. "Close your eyes, Ava."

"...why?" She asked, obviously doubting of what would happen.

"Because I want it to be a surprise, now do it!"

Rolling her eyes, Avalon shut them. She allowed the Doctor to bring her somewhere further down the hill side, warning him that if she tripped she would smack him. The Doctor, used to those sorts of threats, positioned her without a response.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Mhm, let me at it."

The Doctor stepped aside and told her to open her eyes. When she did, she was met with a great glass dome that encircled a city of some sort. It was surrounded by crystal clear water where various boats floated, some with people heading for the city.

"Woah," Avalon soon began grinning. "This is like...Atlantis! OH! Are we in Atlantis!?"

The Doctor laughed, shaking his head. "No, actually we're not. This is the planet Kaay, home to one of the most progressive species ever."

"I still say Atlantis," Avalon crossed her arms. "So how was this supposed to help me sleep?"

"Well," the Doctor stepped towards the end of the hill, "That water down there contains ingredients that put people into a dreamlike state which, in turn, is a sleep medicine."

"Screw that I wanna go in there," Avalon pointed at the city, her eyes practically sparkling.

"I thought you wanted to sleep," the Doctor scowled. "It only takes a couple drops and then you're out like a light."

"No thanks," Avalon patted his arm and turned. "I'm gonna go get changed and then we're gonna go into the city."

"Avalon, I don't think that's a good idea. You really ought to sleep-"

"I'm gonna drive the TARDIS if you're not coming."

"Stay away from my console," the Doctor quickly pointed at her.

"She doesn't mind, she likes me more than you anyways. So bye!" Avalon waved and began a hasty retreat down the hill.

"A-Avalon!" the Doctor broke into a sprint behind her.

The ginger laughed all the way down, reaching the TARDIS first. She swung her way into the box then planted herself at the doorway with her hands on either side of the hinges.

"Say we're going into the city," she said calmly.

"What if I don't?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"Then you don't get to go into your box."

A loud scoff escaped the Doctor's mouth. "Really? That's the best you can do? At least do something that can actually happen."

"I can and will close these doors on you," Avalon said, quite sure of herself that it amused the Doctor. It was one of the things he liked most from her - no matter the circumstances she stood tall and ready to fight against anyone.

"Oh, really?"

"Mhm. Watch me."

"You can't do it," the Doctor stepped into the entrance floor of the box, forcing Avalon to take steps back. "It's my box. She listens to me."

"Just take me already," Avalon smacked his arm.

"Where are we going?" They heard Amy's raspy voice behind them. Looking back they found her and Rory standing by the hallway threshold both in pajamas.

Avalon whirled around and excitedly announced, "The Doctor is taking us to an alien city!"

While she skipped to the console, the Doctor gaped and shut the doors behind him. "No he was not!"

"Yeah he is," Avalon assured and came to a stop near the Time rotor. "Aren't we?" She patted the rotor and instantly had an approving hum from the TARDIS.

"Amazing," the Doctor grumbled as he came up the stairs, calling to the TARDIS now. "Is this how you backup your own pilot?"

"Okay," Amy shook her head, in the process shaking off her sleepy demeanor, "What's happening? Where are we going?"

"And why were you awake so early?" Rory practically demanded.

"Because I couldn't sleep," Avalon shrugged. "But that doesn't matter anymore. The Doctor is taking us to an alien city on water."

"Really?" Amy glanced over to the Doctor who was still grumbling at the TARDIS for her lack of defense.

When she called him, he snapped his head up and frowned. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Oh shut up," Avalon jokingly told him, looking at him from across the console, "You know you wanna take us."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, giving up. "Fine, go get changed then."

Avalon beamed. "Thank you! C'mon Amy, let's get changed because I refuse to go out in a nightie!" Amy barely had time to say 'okay' when Avalon yanked her down the staircase into the corridors. "And we need to wake up the Sapling!"

"Might wanna get a change too, Rory," the Doctor warned, "People there are a bit nosy here."

Rory nodded and started for the corridor when he came to a stop midway, pensive, and with sudden determination he turned right back. "What are you doing?"

The Doctor looked up from the console, momentarily confused. "What?"

Rory wasn't accustomed to a stand off, both verbally or physically, but this was something important he couldn't just ignore. He'd been trying his best to deal with it on his own but it concerned Avalon and he would never be able to stay quiet when it came to her. "With Avalon. What are you doing with Avalon?"

The Doctor forced himself to look back down at the console, pretending to work a couple switches. That was the question, wasn't it? He'd been avoiding asking himself that question and now Rory was taking the initiative. "I don't understand."

"Yeah you do," Rory started walking up to the console. "You understand everything and I'm pretty sure you understand why you can't be with Avalon."

The Doctor stopped moving his hand over the console, swallowing hard. He wasn't even going to deny anything, why bother? Rory was too smart of a man to buy a lie. "Yeah…" He said so quietly that Rory barely heard it.

"Look, it's not that I don't realize you actually care for her. I see it. Amy sees it. But…" Rory sighed, "...who you are...to the world...puts Avalon in a very dangerous position. The Silence, for example, are still out there, and…"

"I get it, Rory," the Doctor finally looked up, clearly affected by Rory's words. "I'm no good-"

"I didn't say that-"

"-but it's what you meant to say," the Doctor began walking around the console for Rory, "And I agree. I'm no good for anyone - even you and Amy are in danger because of me. The poor Sapling was born because of who I am. I should stay away from Avalon."

"I know you don't mean for anything to happen to us, Doctor. I promise you that we get it, but...I have been with Avalon since we were kids. She hasn't had it easy and the last thing she needs is to be targeted by intergalactic aliens. You get that, right?"

The Doctor nodded. "And I completely understand that. I want her to be safe too."

"Okay," Rory nodded as well, feeling awkward with such an intense topic. He turned around and walked down for the corridor to get changed as well.

The Doctor returned for the console, silently and despondently. He couldn't argue, and he wouldn't, because everything Rory said was true. He was not a good man; he would only hurt Avalon. She needed something better than him and if he actually felt anything for her then he would do the right thing and stay away.

~0~

The city was large and busy. And shiny. Very shiny. Tall buildings lined the street, reaching almost to the top of the dome that was over the city. Humanoids and other more obvious aliens walked the streets.

"I like this place! It's so _shiny_!" The Sapling was dazzled by the crystal appearance of the buildings. "And look! There I am!" He stopped walking to point at the ground where, because of its shine, their reflections were clear as day.

"Are these actual crystals, though?" Amy stopped by a street pole to study its appearance. It was a baby blue and shiny as hell.

"If they are, I'm taking some of them," Avalon smirked and rubbed her hands together.

"No you are not," Rory was right behind her in case she started pulling jewels off places right there and then.

"Oh Rory!" Avalon waved him off. "I'm sure nobody would miss them!"

"Where are we?" The Sapling asked the Doctor.

"The city of Yalen, well, it's a kingdom actually," the Doctor barely finished when Avalon quickly remarked over it.

"A kingdom!? With actual royalty?"

"Well, yeah," the Doctor nodded. "The family in power are the Amethysts. See that?" He stopped the group again at an intersection and gestured to a building overlooking the city.

Avalon gasped so loudly it stopped a few of the civilians. "Is that...a _castle_!?"

"Oh boy, you've awoken the princess dreams again," Amy shot a look at the Doctor, not too pleased with him now.

"I want to go to the castle!" Avalon exclaimed. "Can we please go to the castle!? I haven't met an actual royal and we've been traveling for a year!" She turned to the Doctor with a huff. "What's that about!?"

"...you never asked?"

"Well I'm asking _now_!"

"Mother, Father, look," the Sapling had wandered to a nearby street pole that had a huge poster on it. The poster - as well as the street pole - was decorated with beautiful purple flowers whose petals seemed to be made up of crystals, Amethysts to be specific.

The group gathered behind the Sapling to see what the poster was about. As soon as Avalon saw it, she gasped again. "It's a _wedding_!" She almost screeched that the others had to cover their ears.

Amy leaned closer to the poster to read the headline. "To be exact, Princess Stella and Prince Zander's wedding this evening...at the Amethyst castle."

"I don't think we should crash a royal wedding," Rory looked at them all with concern.

"Why not?" Amy smirked. "The Doctor can get us in, and we could definitely have some fun."

"Now you're talking, Amy!" Avalon high-fived with her.

"It might be fun," the Sapling agreed with a big smile.

"Or we can stay out here and explore," Rory insisted the much safer option.

"I think I'm with Rory on this one," the Doctor surprisingly said. He received comical looks from both gingers and a disappointed one from the Sapling. "The Amethysts have a very strict way of living, kind of cling to the old ways if you know what I mean. I wouldn't like to get tangled with them."

"Seriously?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, now seeming at a cross between anger and confusion. "You pick _now_ to be responsible!? Give me the psychic paper - I'll go on my own!"

"Sorry Ava, we're gonna have to sit this one out. But I'm sure there's plenty of other places you'll like."

"I wanted to see the big, flashy castle," she said slowly, folding her arms. "But the boring Time Lord said _no_."

The Doctor frowned. "I'm not boring."

"I wonder what kind of alcohol these aliens get into because I sure need one!" Avalon turned on her heels to walk away.

"Avalon, come back!" Rory called after her.

"In an hour!"

"Where is Mother going? And what's alcohol?" the Sapling gave a curious glance at the others.

"Something your mother is very fond of," Amy chuckled. "I'll go make sure she stays out of trouble," she hurried after Avalon before losing her.

"Aren't we going to follow them?" Rory waited for the Doctor to take the lead but the Time Lord shook his head. "What!?"

"Better let her cool off. Last thing I need is for her to nick the psychic paper off me. She has very sneaky fingers," the Doctor made a face and turned in the opposite direction. Twice already she had taken his psychic paper without him noticing until she herself would hand it back to him. It was _not_ funny, no matter what she said.

~ 0 ~

"The Doctor and Rory's gonna kill us," Amy turned around from the bar counter to face the nice pub they had found only a few blocks from where they'd left Rory, the Doctor and the Sapling.

"Not if I slap them first," Avalon took her drink from the bartender - a humanoid male. "If I don't get to crash a wedding then I will at least have some alcohol."

Amy took a sip of her drink and crinkle her nose. "Eugh, this does not taste good."

"Tastes good to me," Avalon shrugged, sipping away yer drink.

Amy shook her head and put her drink down on the counter. "Nope, I need to go wash this taste out of my mouth."

"You're overdramatic," Avalon took Amy's drink and popped the straw out. She looked at the nearly empty place and spotted another ginger woman across the place looking rather...depressed? She looked at Amy's drink - which was still practically full - and then back to the stranger. "Well Amy's not gonna drink it and I can't go beyond one cup." The alcohol was far more potent on this planet and Avalon didn't want to be outright buzzed.

She got off the stool and took both drinks to the table of the ginger woman. "Hello, want a drink?" she plopped down across the stranger and set down both drinks.

The ginger woman looked up to reveal dark brown eyes. "What?"

"Don't get it wrong, but you really look like you could use a drink. So drink." Avalon slid Amy's drink down the table.

The other ginger eyed the glass suspiciously. "You expect me to drink a glass a stranger is offering me?"

"If you don't I don't care. I just didn't want it to go to waste," Avalon shrugged. "My name's Avalon, by the way."

The casual demeanor of Avalon gave the other ginger a vibe she didn't feel so uncomfortable with. Against all her education, she nabbed the glass offered to her.

"So, what's the problem?" Avalon suddenly asked, causing the ginger to momentary freeze. "Bad one? Gotcha. But whatever it is, I'm sure it's not that bad."

The ginger scoffed. "Wanna bet?"

Seeing this was the way to get the woman to talk, Avalon smirked. "You want to play that game? I can play. I recently just mothered a _tree_ with a man of a different species. And that's right, you heard me, a _tree_."

The ginger raised an eyebrow. "Okay, kind of bad. Here's one of mine: I'm not allowed to be in the city without guards. I have literally never seen the city."

"Oh, locked away. That is a bad one, but...I can definitely win this. I found out my mother may have not even been my mother - I could've been adopted but my dad, who might not even be my Dad either, never told me. I've been living a lie all my life."

" _Terrible_ ," the ginger blinked. She thought for a second then sighed. "Well, here's my biggest one: my Dad's marrying me off to some guy I barely know. I'm like a piece at the market going to the highest bidder. I don't even like the guy but my Dad doesn't care."

"Okay that one's sad," Avalon admitted. "Want to hear my last one? We can mourn for our love lives together." The other ginger smiled a bit. "I...might be falling for a man who is way out of my league. And when I say 'might' I mean...it's already happened. But it's never going to happen because I'm _me_. No one special."

"Well, this game did make me feel a little better," the ginger bobbed her head. "We both have terrible lives."

"You know what you should do?" Avalon asked her with a rather devilish smile.

"What?"

"Run away."

The stranger ginger raised both her eyebrows as she contemplated this new idea. "You're telling me to run away?"

"Why not? It works, trust me. I sort of did that - I mean, it wasn't the main reason I left home but it was also useful to get away for a while. Plus, my parents - if the parents I know aren't my actual parents - ran away from me years ago and no one has found them since. It works."

"No it wouldn't, they would be searching for me non-stop," the ginger said, her eyes drifting to the side in thought.

"Avalon?" Amy had come out of the restrooms and found her friend sitting with a complete stranger. "What are you doing?"

"Having a drink with my new friend-" Avalon's cheery smile faded when she realized she still didn't know the other woman's name. "I'm sorry, what was your name again?"

"Leave it to Avalon to make new friends like this," Amy rolled her eyes and took a seat between the two gingers.

"Hey, I'm helping," Avalon frowned. "I'm telling her to run away from her marriage."

"Oh yeah, we're so leaving," Amy said with a straight face then looked over to the still pensive ginger. "I'm sorry for my friend's bad advice."

"It wasn't all that bad," the ginger said, eyes locking on Avalon who was sipping her drink again. "Except for the part where they would be looking non-stop for me."

"Yeah, so it's best not to do that," Amy said like it was logical.

"Except…" the ginger began reaching inside her jacket, "...they wouldn't be looking for me if they thought that I was there with them."

"That doesn't make sense," Avalon put down her drink on the table. "I don't think you're getting this..."

Amy rolled her eyes, concluding this was all just too dramatic. "What's the big deal?" she asked. "You're getting married to who exactly?"

"A prince," the ginger whipped out a blue wand-like device.

"No way!" Avalon's eyes widened. "Lucky! That's been my dream since I was like 5!"

"Then let me help you with that," the ginger pointed the wand at Avalon in a threatening manner. Amy immediately pushed herself out of her chair and backed away at the same time Avalon did.

Avalon raised her hands up. "What are you doing?"

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, but I just can't do it," the ginger shook her head, already standing herself. "I can't get married to Zander. I don't love him."

"Zander?" Amy studied the woman carefully before realizing who she was. "Wait, you're the _princess_. You're Princess Stella!"

Stella nodded. "Yes. And I've been trapped in this pub for over an hour because of the guards ransacking the streets. Well I won't do it. I won't get married."

"Okay that's fine with me but will you put down what ever the hell that thing is?" snapped Avalon.

"I can't do that," Stella shook her head, discreetly flicking a small switch on the wand. "I'm taking your advice, I'm running away. And it'll be a lot easier to do if you wear my face."

Avalon frowned. "What?"

Stella didn't respond anymore and instead activated the wand, causing a great blue flash of light. Avalon fell back as if she had been struck while Stella pushed Amy away to make her escape. Amy rushed over to Avalon - who'd fallen face first on the floor - and started calling for help from the nearby customers.

"She's outcold! That princess - the princess! She did something to my friend!" Amy turned Avalon over and saw Avalon's pale face.

A couple of people began crowding around them, and while Amy fished for her phone in her pocket she missed the awestruck looks on their faces.

"C'mon, c'mon, pick up Rory!" Amy impatiently said, looking over Avalon. Behind her, she began hearing strange whispers.

"It's the princess!"

"...they've been looking for her…"

"...someone call the guards - I heard there's a reward…"

"What are you talking about?" Amy angrily looked up at the last person to have spoken. "Your princess just ran out that door! She's the one who did this to my friend!"

But no one listened to her. All they saw was Princess Stella lying out cold on the floor.

"Amy?" Rory's voice relieved Amy somewhat.

"Rory! We need help! Well, Avalon needs it more than I do actually!"

"What happened?"

"Well, um, we went into this pub and Avalon found the frikin princess who them turned out to be cruel as hell because she-"

There was a sudden burst of the entrance doors. Amy quickly stood up to see several guards rushing inside the room. "Woah, what's going on?"

"There she is!" The male bartender was leading the guards inside the room, frantically pointing at the 'princess' on the floor. "Princess Stella! Where's my reward?"

Amy made such a face while trying to explain that this was not their princess. Meanwhile, Rory was still listening in from the other line.

"This isn't Stella! Her name's Avalon Reynolds! She's been struck with something and - put her down!" Amy urgently pushed her way through some guards as she saw one of them picking Avalon up into their arms. "Where are you taking her!?"

"Back home where she belongs," one guard holding onto Amy answered. "She's got a ceremony to attend to."

"But that's not Stella, I'm telling you!"

"Ma'am if you don't quit acting against orders from the King himself, we will take you in as well," another guard warned.

Amy knew when she was at a loss, and unfortunately this was one of them. She knew the best way to help Avalon was finding the Doctor and explaining to him all that happened. Avalon would surely be brought to the castle where they could easily get in via psychic paper. So after Avalon was taken away, Amy resumed the phone call and dashed out of the pub - not before punching the bartender to the floor - and went to find the Doctor and Rory.

~0~

"But I'm telling you I'm not her, I'm not princess Stella," Avalon got tired of saying as two maids walked out of 'her room'. For some reason, everyone who saw her believed her to be princess Stella Amethyst. And no matter how many times Avalon would tell them she wasn't Stella, no one would believe her. In fact, most employees wouldn't even talk to her. It was like taboo or something.

As soon as the maids locked the room, Avalon jumped out of the big (and admittedly comfortable) bed and made a run for the window. She tried pushing it up to escape but found it was also locked. She raised her head up and came to the shocking surprise of her reflection. "That's not me!" she cried, slapping her hands to her face.

She dawned the ginger hair but it was straight and her eyes were not blue - they were brown! Her entire facial features were not there. She really did look like Stella.

Avalon didn't know whether to cry or be angry and probably throw some stuff. She didn't have time to decide because she heard someone unlocking the door. She turned to find the two maids from before accompanied by a much older woman dressed in royal garbs - the Queen.

~0~

" _Why_ did you go into a pub? Why!?" Rory couldn't finish understanding despite hearing Amy's story.

Amy deeply sighed, already blaming herself for all that happened. She should have known better than to let Avalon bring her into a pub, much more an alien pub. "I don't know, alright? I was bored."

"You were bored," Rory mimicked before angrily beginning again, "Amy you know Avalon needs someone to guide her so that she doesn't end up in situations like these!"

"Well excuse me but I tend to think of Avalon as a _friend_ , not our _daughter_!" Amy couldn't help snap.

"If you two are done arguing-" the Doctor came up to them after having exited a small shop, "-perhaps we should get to the part where we help Avalon."

"Yes, we should save Mother," the Sapling gazed up at the big castle in the distance. "She's probably inside the castle she wanted to go to."

Rory sighed. "Yeah, you're right. What do we do then?"

"Well, it appears Stella was against the arranged marriage and decided to leave someone else in her place while she got to run away and be free…"

"Yeah, that much we got," Amy nodded, crossing her arms. "She had this little wand thing that she used on Avalon."

"A face matriculator - very popular in the black market," the Doctor mused. "See it adapts everyone's eye nerves so that they see the face of the criminal on someone else's face."

"You mean everyone sees Princess Stella's face on Avalon now?" Rory asked.

"Well yes and no," the Doctor shrugged. "The effects are temporal, one of the drawbacks, but if they're going to marry Avalon off by mistake the results could be disastrous. The Amethysts do not tolerate mistakes."

"...what do you mean?" Amy slowly asked, exchanging looks with Rory before. They were getting the same bad feeling.

"Well, I imagine the effects would last up to…" And even the Doctor was having trouble finishing his sentence, "...the _Wedding Night_."

It was like a bombshell had gone off.

"N-n-n-no, she can't have that," Rory was the first to speak after a very awkward moment of silence.

"Why, what happens?" the Sapling innocently looked between the trio who could no longer return the favor.

"Okay, moving on," Amy said hurriedly. "I think the Doctor what trying to say that this family doesn't do mistakes. Imagine their brand new son in law bringing back a girl that was supposed to be Stella? They're gonna want to…"

"Eliminate that mistake before anyone got word of the runaway princess," the Doctor finished, forcing himself to focus on that reason and not the...well, the wedding night part.

The sense of urgency was quick to rise within the group and so they set off to figure a way out for Avalon.

~0~

"Sit down!"

Plop! went Avalon down on a garden chair the Queen - or her mother apparently - had set her on.

"And if I hear one more peep out of you in regards to this marriage you will regret it to the fullest extent," the Queen warned Avalon while casually creasing Avalon's burgundy silk dress over the shoulders. "Am I understood?"

It took everything in Avalon not to make a snappy response. She learned that was not the way to speak to the Queen - Queen Chan - less she wanted to have another _hurtful_ response back.

"Yes," Avalon mumbled. Queen Chan glowered down at 'her daughter' until Avalon noticed. Coughing, she added, "...mother."

Seemingly satisfied, the Queen walked away, leaving Avalon alone for a moment. She picked at the outrageous hair pin sticking out of her untamed curls. It felt like something was pulling her hair constantly but Queen Chan hadn't listened. She saw Stella's straight manageable hair so that was that.

"You shouldn't touch your hair Stella," a petite blonde woman called out. Avalon looked up and saw the woman approaching the table. Judging by the slightly less royal clothing, Avalon assumed this was one of Stella's friends or lesser status family member. The blonde giggled as she reached the table and moved over to Avalon's hair where she began fixing the pin. "Your mom put it on too tight, huh?"

"Um...yeah," Avalon cautiously looked up to the woman.

"Well, maybe it was a little punishment for running away like that - What were you thinking!?" the blonde stepped back and smiled appreciatively at her work.

"That...I didn't wanna get married?" Avalon said what she believed was fairly obvious.

"Why not? Zander is a really good guy. And I'm sure he would make a fine husband," the blonde took a seat across the table. A thin wide smirk spread across her face as she leaned forwards on the table to add, I'm a much quieter voice, "Plus, let's be honest, he seems like the kind of guy who would definitely make your night if you know what I mean.. "

"Unfortunately I do…" Avalon nervously smiled at the blonde. She nicked at her hair for a minute before asking, "Is there a cellphone I could use?"

"Phone? Why would you need a phone?"

"I thought it was obvious what a phone was used for."

"You don't need to be sassy," the blonde frowned. "I'm your cousin, remember that."

"I'll honestly try." Avalon bit her lip. "Look, I just need a phone so that I can call-"

"Zander!"

Avalon's eyes widened "What!?"

She spotted an admittedly handsome young man coming towards them. He had curly brown hair and matching dark eyes. With muscular arms, he directly went for Avalon's hands to raise her from her seat.

"Hello, beautiful," he greeted her with.

All Avalon could for a moment was blink, and rapidly.

The blonde woman mildly giggled and got out of her chair. "Well I think I'll leave you two alone."

"Thank you, Isabel," Zander said with eyes glued on Avalon. After they were left alone, he gently pulled Avalon away from the table. "Glad to see you're back home."

"You...you know about...me me...running away, right?" Avalon thought it best to just rip off the bandage right there at first.

"Of course, and I'm not very pleased," Zander gave a light shake of his head.

"Well I wasn't aiming to please anyone but myself," Avalon snapped. Zander gave her a look of surprise, as if Stella had never done such a thing. "I don't want to get married."

That one was for her and and Stella.

Zander let go of her hands, seemingly irritated. "This marriage is to solidify our divided kingdoms, Stella. I thought we went over this."

Avalon narrowed her eyes at the man. "I get the feeling _you_ discussed, and Stella listened."

"Well, _Stella_ should remember all the benefits this marriage is gonna bring."

"To everyone else but her - me!" Avalon exclaimed. "There has to be other ways to unite kingdoms. This is like...medieval talk. No one should be married against their will."

"You're acting as if I would be the worst husband," Zander now angrily declared.

"Maybe you could be, or maybe you wouldn't. All I know is that you are not the man I want to marry." Avalon looked down at her gown and rolled her eyes. "Even if this could be a perfect princess story. It's wicked and outrageous."

Zander looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He started pacing back and forth, his voice growing angrier and impatient. "You have no right to insult me that way. I've done nothing but be thoughtful and patient with you-"

"Patient?" Avalon was quick to scoff, once more surprising him. "This doesn't sound very patient to me. It sounds like you just expect me to swoon over a couple of gestures that weren't even genuine. I've got news for you fancy boy, I won't marry you and there is nothing you can do about it."

Zander's face went entirely red after that. But Avalon didn't exactly stick around to see what happened next. She hastily walked down the garden into the palace. Unfortunately for her, Zander wasn't the kind of man who let things go.

"Stella! We are not finished discussing this!" he repeatedly shouted at her, yet she kept going without a single glance back.

"But I am, so leave me alone!" She called back, making a quick turn down an intersection of hallways. Soon as she did, something latched onto her arm and pulled her into a closet room. "Amy!" Avalon was so relieved to see her real ginger friend with her.

Amy put a finger to her own mouth as she hurriedly locked the door. They both heard Zander passing by, angry as ever. When Amy sighed Avalon knew the danger had passed.

"I am so happy to see you!" Avalon hugged her. "You've no idea what kind of hell this is!"

"Playing princess?" Amy raised an eyebrow. "That must be a hard job to do."

"You would think but no. This is a shitty palace I mean look!" Avalon rubbed some makeup off from her cheek to reveal a purple mark. "Mother dearest - the Queen - did that to me for talking back!"

"Oh wow…"

"And that husband-to-be is a lifetime jerk! I want to leave now!"

Amy turned back for the door and unlocked it. "Doctor's working on it." She opened the door a smidge to peer out.

"Where is he? And Rory?" Avalon waited for Amy to give her the okay sign. "And how'd you get in?"

Amy motioned to be followed. "They're out trying to find you too. We snuck in as the help and then split up to find you."

"How'd you know it was even me, though?" Avalon suddenly thought, motioning to the face area.

"I was there when you were knocked out, remember?" Amy gave her a look. "I was the first to see you as Stella."

They stuck to one part of an empty hallway so Amy could phone Rory. Meanwhile, Avalon would keep watch. Eventually, the two gingers hurried upstairs to Stella's bedroom where the others would be waiting.

"Now show of your snobby fiance," Amy joked and opened the bedroom door for Avalon.

"Quiet," she snapped.

Amy walked in behind and closed the door with lock.

"Avalon!" Rory rushed to hug the woman first. Despite she looking like Stella, he knew exactly who she was for real.

"It's Mother!" the Sapling beamed and rushed to hug Avalon next.

"So you guys know it's really me too?" Avalon inquired, hugging back.

"We heard rumors from the other employees the princess was unusually snappy this afternoon. We figured it had to be you," the Doctor shrugged.

Avalon rolled her eyes. "Oh, ha, ha. Thank you for coming for me, Fairy Tale Man." She moved on to hug him next and tightly.

Hugging her back, the Doctor smiled. "Did you doubt I would?"

"Weeeell…" Avalon laughed and back away.

"First thing's first," Amy marched up to them, "Doctor, get that face off her already."

"Yes, it would be much better to see Mother's real face," the Sapling nodded.

"Can you really do that, Doctor?" Avalon almost put her hands together to beg him to do it right there.

"Sorta," the Doctor reached for his screwdriver inside his jacket. He pointed it directly at her and activated it. Seconds later, Stella's face disappeared leaving Avalon's true face behind.

He pressed around more controls on the screwdriver before pointing it at her again. This time, the Sapling, Rory and Amy could see Avalon again. One more time would have Avalon left puzzled until the Doctor brought her up to the vanity mirror.

"My face! I can see my face again!" She cried happily, touching her cheeks.

"I can't do the same for the others though," the Doctor explained, quickly getting all eyes and ears on him. "The Amethysts are a different more reserved species and I don't have the frequency to change their optic nerve vision again."

"Okay, and what does that mean?" Rory cane up to the two.

"It means we can take her off this planet but everyone else in the world will keep seeing her as Princess Stella Clarke."

"So what do we do?" Avalon quietly asked, no longer looking so excited. Leaving was not an option for the moment.

"We have to find the frequency used for this planet. And the way to do that is by searching for the palace's engineer room."

"How long could that take?" Amy raised an eyebrow.

"Couple hours...maybe…" the Doctor regretted to say, for Avalon's fear had resurfaced on her face.

"N-n-n-n-no, it can't take that long!" She shook her head, growing frantic. "The wedding is at seven!"

"That gives us two hours," the Doctor tried being optimistic for her but it didn't work.

"But what if you don't find it? Doctor this guy Stella's supposed to marry is a jerk! I've no doubt he only sees Stella as some object he'll be owning in a couple hours. Don't let me marry him, _please_."

"Listen," he placed his hands on her shoulders, "Right now Rory, the Sapling, Amy and me are going to start searching this palace for that room and nothing - absolutely nothing - is going to stop us from finding it. In the meantime, you just be a princess. I promise you that you will not marry him, okay?"

Avalon slowly nodded, quietly answering, "Okay."

Rory eyed the two's proximity and immediately disagreed with it. He cleared his throat and reached for the Doctor's arm. "We should get going, then."

The Doctor understood Rory's meaning and let go of Avalon completely. He even took a couple steps away from her, something that didn't go unnoticed by Amy. Avalon was still dwelling on her situation.

"We'll be back, Ava," Rory kindly assured. "Trust us."

With nothing else to do, Avalon nodded. The group split up again afterwards. The remaining trio slipped into an empty room nearby to discuss their next move.

"Do you actually have a plan?" Amy inquired.

"It would be good to know it in case we get split up," the Sapling said.

"Right, working on it..." the Doctor said.

"Doctor, do you have a plan?" Amy asked him again, giving him a look that warned him he better answer.

"No, but let's not tell Avalon that," the Doctor warned and ignored her rolling her eyes. "What we need to do is find the control room in this place. We find that, we can knock down practically any signal no matter how small."

"Why don't we just try finding Stella?" Rory asked, thinking it'd be an easier task.

"Because finding one woman in the entire universe is a bit tricky, Rory," the Doctor sarcastically responded. "I'm gonna try to find the room I know know is in this palace."

Rory resolved mentally it really was the best option. "Alright , so how do we find the room?"

"Yeah, can't you use your sonic or something?" Amy had remained by the bedroom door in case anyone tried getting in.

"I don't have anything for the Amethysts," the Doctor reminded. "It's basically trial and error."

"Right then, we better get started," Amy pulled open the door and motioned the men to follow her out.

Amy was tasked to find the engine room downstairs first. They hoped it would perhaps be in some sort of underground room. Rory was tasked with the middle level, the idea being the engine room could be in a simple, regular room somewhere there. And finally, the Doctor and the Sapling took the higher rooms in the chance the engine room was located in one of the towers in the palace.

This left Avalon to continue the pretense of being the engaged princess. The more she got to know her husband-to-be, the more terrified she was for the wedding. She already disliked the situation of wearing someone else's face, now add on the fact she was marrying a shitty prince.

"What if I don't get married?" She asked desperately to one of the women doing her hair. Even as the woman giggled, Avalon insisted on getting her answer. "What if...what if the kingdoms make some sort of treaty instead?"

"Princess Stella, your marriage _is_ the treaty," the woman finally said.

"But that's so unfair!" Neither women doing her hair made a response afterwards. Avalon bit her lip and stared at her reflection in the mirror. "I'm not getting married," she mumbled.

The door of the bedroom opened up and in came Stella's cousin, Isabel, already dressed for the occasion. Her baby pink, silk dress swayed as she walked for the vanity desk. "You are looking gorgeous," she remarked cheery.

Avalon failed to show the same emotion back. It was hard accepting a compliment about appearances when she knew Isabel was seeing Stella instead of Avalon.

"I'm having your dress brought up as we speak," Isabel said distractedly, much more focused on the hair work instead.

The blonde woman working settled a silver pin embroidered with purple stones in Avalon's more-curled hair. Avalon flinched as it pulled a couple strands of her hair but said nothing about it.

"Voila!" Isabel said enthusiastically, clapping her hands afterwards. "Have I mentioned you look gorgeous?"

Avalon looked away from the mirror, turning sideways on her chair. "Yes," she answered softly.

Isabel's smile faded. Silently, she shooed the two stylists out of the room before speaking to Avalon. "Stella, don't tell me you're still upset about this marriage."

"It's only a marriage I'm being forced into without zero chance of love - why should I be upset?" Avalon looked up bearing a look of utter deception.

"But Zander is a good man-"

"No he's not. If I know anything it's that he is not what a husband should be. Apart from not loving him, he is rude, he is insulting. He thinks of me as a possession he's about to own. Why would you force me into this?"

It seemed like Avalon's words had made some effect on Isabel, but the woman cleared it off by simply saying, "I'm not the one forcing you."

"I know," Avalon mumbled and turned back to the mirror.

Isabel stared at her for another moment before announcing she would go check on her wedding dress. Avalon was left alone to wallow in her sadness for a couple minutes before Isabel returned holding the most beautiful, purple-gemmed, white wedding dress in her arms. Avalon could not lie and say she hated the dress. As she was helped into it she discovered it was in a ballroom style complete with an off-the-shoulder model and long-sleeved laced sleeves. The purple gems were patterned off as flowers.

"There," Isabel gently fixed the veil under the silver pin on Avalon's hair. She leaned down beside Avalon's chair to see the reflection and smiled widely. "Wow! Am I right?"

Avalon leaned forwards, barely grazing her cheek. "Wow…" she whispered. There were so many things running through her mind but not one thought was one that wouldn't make her cry.

"I'll be back," Isabel straightened, "I'm going to see if everything's ready downstairs."

When the door was shut Avalon stifled a sob and covered it with a trembling hand. She did not want to get married, not this way. Someone opened the door and she gasped thinking it was someone from Stella. She relaxed only slightly when she saw it was the Doctor but her tears only welled in her eyes as he looked at her.

"Wow…" he came up with after deciding his mind wouldn't be able to come up with something better suited for her appearance. She looked beautiful in the wedding dress - a complete princess. Of course, a princess shouldn't be crying on her in wedding day. That had to be against the rules.

"I'm getting married in thirty minutes," Avalon barely kept it together when she spoke. "Doctor, please help me, please. I am properly scared here."

The Doctor snapped out of his stupor remembering the time was ticking by and she needed his help. He hurried up to her, firstly taking her into a hug. He rarely saw Avalon scared and he decided that he couldn't take knowing she was in fear. He had to do something, no matter what it was. "We're coming up with something, I promise you."

"You still haven't found the room, have you?" She pulled away to look up at him.

"It's a big palace...and a guarded one…"

"Oh my God I'm getting married!" Avalon nearly lost it with the next sob that threatened to come out. "I didn't think the worst thing that could happen to me, while travelling with you, was getting _married_! I'm gonna end up getting married to some jerk!"

"H-h-hey-" the Doctor cupped her face, "-I am not gonna let that happen. You are getting that fantasy wedding when the time is right, and it's not today. I'm getting you out."

"How?" Avalon was in between tears. She blinked fast to keep them from blurring her vision.

"I'm coming up with something, you watch. It's probably going to involve a lot of running…"

"I hope it does," Avalon tried to smile like he was. "Back to the TARDIS?"

"All the way back to the TARDIS," he agreed, giving her neatly-made hair a kiss. "You'll be fine," he promised and began to backtrack. "Fine."

Avalon repeated the word like a safe guard and watched him leave the room. She swallowed hard and turned back to the mirror, the tears unable to stop themselves from falling down her cheeks.

~ 0 ~

This was never the vision she had for her wedding day. Avalon wasn't sure what was going on as different people came by to set her in a specific position for when the large, beige double-doors would open. Her heart beat wildly within her chest as she heard the director of the procession call out every minute how much time they had left. The Doctor was nowhere to be seen, and thus this 'plan' of his was much more obscure.

"Cheer up already, Stella," came Isabella who gingerly tapped at Avalon's cheek to clear off some of the makeup Avalon had worn off from tears. "The ceremony will be beautiful and you will be a beautiful wife."

"Do you honestly believe that?" Avalon asked with a deadly tint in her tone. Isabella gave her a crazed look but Avalon went on before she could say anything back. "Do you honestly believe that I could be happy when I have done nothing but sob because of this wedding?"

Isabella opened her mouth and closed it various times, seemingly unable to come up with a good answer. "I-I don't…" she forced herself to smile in a ditzy manner, "Stella, you will be beautiful," she said instead and made a hasty departure like she was afraid Avalon would continue this awkward conversation.

When she heard the church bells toll above, Avalon swore her legs became like pudding. It was difficult to remain standing as the double-doors began to open. Her hands gripped the bouquet so tightly she could feel some of the leftover thorns poking through her skin. But it was nothing to her at the moment.

Someone behind carefully pulled over Avalon's veil to cover her face.

When she saw everyone inside the church standing and waiting for her go in, Avalon forced herself to walk in that direction and not run away like she was envisioning. She could barely see anything in front of her, but she could feel the boring eyes from the guests. She swore she had never seen such a long aisle to walk down.

The choir was traditionally giving the song of all marriages, and while Avalon could see no such priest, she could clearly see the figure of her husband-to-be, Zander, expectantly waiting for her at the altar. She felt like a robot doing the instructions left behind with her as she came to a stop at the altar and automatically gave her hand to Zander. As she stepped onto the small platform meant for them two, she heard the priest coming towards them.

Zander carefully lifted her veil - revealing Stella's face for him - and rested it over Avalon's ginger locks.

"Please remain standing," went the priest.

Avalon's eyes widened instantly after hearing him. She snapped her head in his direction and could have practically laughed to tears of joy when she saw Rory standing there. Rory gave her a meaningful look, one that told her everything would be alright now.

"Today is a celebration," began Rory, surprising Avalon with this sudden knowledge of priest skills. "A celebration of love, of commitment, of family, and of two people who are in it for forever." He took a long pause that left much of the crowd questioning his action. Suddenly, he pulled off the minister collar and let it drop to the floor while speaking, in a very bored manner. "Unfortunately this is one ceremony that doesn't follow any of these requirements. And I would know."

There were several gasps in the crowd, confused ones as well.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" snapped Zander.

Rory flat out ignored him to hurriedly give someone else an instruction. "Avalon put your veil back on - quick!"

"What!?" She blinked, her hands instinctively dropping her bouquet and reaching for her veil.

"Just do it!"

"Who's 'Avalon'?" Zander barely had time to process when two things happened right afterwards.

Avalon pulled her veil just as she had been instructed to when the emergency sprinklers in the ceiling began to spur water down. "What's - what's going on!?" Avalon turned around to see Rory using a jacket to cover his head.

"RUN!" he shouted and she quickly went to do it. She'd only made it two steps away from the altar when several soldiers burst into the room with aimed guns at them.

"Stop!" one of them shouted before shooting towards Rory.

Rory ducked and turned back for Avalon, the latter momentarily frozen in her shock of what was happening. "We gotta go!" he told her and made both of them duck as the soldiers shot again.

"I don't-I don't understand what's going on!" cried the poor ginger as she began to see the entire guests, and Zander, dropping to the floor unconscious.

A door behind them, from the altar, opened up to reveal the Doctor and Amy coming inside with hoods over their heads. They each held what looked like guns but Avalon was willing to bet they were stunt guns. The Sapling, however, came running behind them with nothing to protect himself. He seemed immune.

"They're blocking the entrances!" Rory told the Doctor as they gathered at the altar. While the soldiers who arrived first had been knocked out by the water - as Avalon assumed this was the reason everyone was falling - later soldiers were staying by the threshold where they could continue to shoot.

"Then we make one!" Avalon cocked her gun at the nearest color-stained window on their far right.

"That's a stunt gun, we're gonna need something better," the Doctor lowered it and inadvertently ducked when he saw one of the guns' shots heading his way.

"I got it!" the Sapling excitedly announced and thrust his branch arms forwards. Both arms extended towards the color-stained window and smashed through it.

"Alright, Sapling!" Avalon cheered for her tree son and hugged him on the side.

"Careful with your veil!" the Doctor quickly warned. "The water can't touch your eyes or you'll fall asleep!"

"Let's just go!" Amy made a motion towards the smashed window.

The group made a run for it and did their best to avoid the guards' shootings. Avalon had to grab the sides of her dress in order to run a bit easier, but it turned out the gems on the dress were heavier than she thought. "OW!" she clapped one of her hands to her mildly injured arm - a bullet had grazed it.

"Mother!" the Sapling growled at the soldier who had hurt Avalon.

"Oh _no_!" the Doctor saw exactly what was going to happen and ran for the two. They certainly didn't need a repeat of the Sapling going full tree-monster right now. "Sapling, go right now!"

"But Mother-"

"- _I_ will take care of her! You go follow Amy and Rory!"

The Sapling almost sounded like he had huffed as Avalon would, but he obeyed and rushed towards the open window. Meanwhile, the Doctor ran to Avalon to get her moving again.

"He shot me!" Avalon glared back at the soldiers, completely outraged. "He actually shot me!"

"Yes, yes, I know! Now let's go!" the Doctor grabbed her by her uninjured arm and headed for the window.

"I want to get him back!"

"So not the time!"

"Where are we going!?" Avalon panted for breath as they came to a momentary stop in the middle of the hallway.

"The TARDIS, it's that way!" the Doctor pointed to the next coming hallway, on the right. "We gotta get there and fast!"

A bullet rang and all of them instinctively ducked, flinching when a nearby vase shattered.

"Let's go!" Amy nodded and began to run with Rory right behind her.

"I can't - I can't run anymore!" Avalon complained as she felt her dress getting caught in her shoes as she ran. She yelped when she nearly slipped after making a turn into the new hallway.

"Maybe I can just grow a little bit and scare them?" The Sapling thought his idea was really good, but the Doctor fervently shook his head at him.

"No!"

"Dammit!"

The Doctor shot the Sapling a gaping glance. "Definitely your tree son, Avalon!"

Avalon gaped at him now. "Oh shut up!"

"Run faster!"

"My dress-" Avalon pulled her dress while the other hand tried accommodating her veil again that had fallen from her running, "-it's not letting me!"

"C'mon, Donna was good at this!"

"Who the hell is Donna!?"

The Doctor loudly groaned and stopped. She yelped when he swiftly picked her up in a bridal style. With her arms secured around his neck, the Doctor bolted into another run, this time determined to go all the way without another stop.

The TARDIS had never looked so beautiful to the travelers. It stood inside a small supply closet and was automatically unlocked when Amy hurriedly came up to it first. She opened the door and was pushed inside by Rory. He then ushered the Sapling in as well and looked back to see where the Doctor and Avalon were. He was a bit concerned that he didn't see them in the beginning.

"Rory!" Amy called from inside, coming back to the threshold where she grabbed his arm. "Let's go!"

"But Avalon-"

"She's with the Doctor-" she looked up and indeed saw the Doctor coming with Avalon, although in a peculiar position (that Rory most certainly disagreed with), "-now c'mon!" she yanked Rory inside the box.

Avalon yelped each time a bullet went off and thanked the stars the Doctor was a master at dodging bullets. Thankfully, the Doctor made a swift run into the TARDIS. The doors shut immediately after them.

"Here," the Doctor set Avalon down near the console so that he could finally get them out of there. They could hear the bullets growing closer but within the next minute everything went silent!

"And that ladies and gentlemen is why I am not into royalty," Amy dropped into the chair beside the console with a loud sigh of relief. She brought a hand to her forehead and rested.

"Avalon, you're hurt," Rory quickly went to inspect her grazed arm that, while no bullet had been lodged, was bleeding.

"It's fine, Rory," she assured with a genuine smile before surprising him with a gun. "Oh, you have no idea how relieved I was to see you were the priest!"

"Looked funny, didn't he?" Amy smirked from her seat. "Kept telling him he looked like a dork!"

"Oh but he was my saving dork!" Avalon planted a kiss on Rory's cheek then went to hug Amy as well. "Thank you!" she grabbed the Sapling next. "And thank you!" she then turned to the Doctor. "But you - you took longer!"

"I know," he sighed but was surprised to find he also was getting a hug.

"But in time to save me as usual! Thank you!" Like with Rory, she planted a kiss on his cheek. With a sigh, she withdrew - wearing a blush she would not admit to - and expectantly looked at him. "So, my face, how do we fix that?"

The Doctor smirked, making a round on the console while inputting new coordinates. "I have a source that says there's an antidote within the black market."

"You know the black market?" Avalon's eyes widened with surprised.

"I know everything-" but Avalon scoffed at that statement, making the Doctor roll his eyes. "I do. And I got word they have it there. I'll get it for you in a bit."

"Okay," Avalon said, pretending to give him a warning pointed finger at him. "I'm gonna go get out of this stupid dress."

"Aw, but it's actually pretty," Amy began to examine the gown that had miraculously remained untorn. "Hell, you even got carried like a bride in it." She winked and made both Avalon and the Doctor go bright red again. "You got the whole wedding and the kid! You guys work fast!"

Rory looked at the two in question and shook his head, urgently moving the subject along. "Don't be ridiculous, Amy, it meant nothing. C'mon Avalon," he walked up to his ginger friend, "We need to get you cleaned up from that wound."

Avalon nodded her head. "Okay." But before she and he left, she called to the Doctor, "Will you bring me the antidote when you get it?"

"Of course," the Doctor assured.

"I'll be waiting then," she gave a half smile but was promptly pulled into the corridor by Rory.

The Doctor coughed awkwardly and returned to the new destination he now had. Amy silently looked at him and then to where Rory and Amy had been, while also throwing in the day's odd behavior between the trio. "Sapling, why don't you go make that hot chocolate Avalon likes?"

"I can use the stove!?" the Sapling blinked.

"Er...maybe let the TARDIS do the stove," Amy ushered the tree child into the hallway. Okay," she turned to the Doctor, "You want to tell me why you and Rory suddenly have this new tension?"

"Tension?" the Doctor looked at her oddly. "What tension?"

"About Avalon," Amy said as a hunch and smirked when the Doctor quickly dove back to the console. "Oh it's _so_ about Avalon, isn't it? Course it is. My husband's so overprotective of our single friend Avalon. Care to tell me what he said?"

"Nothing important," the Doctor mumbled.

"But he did say something - aha!" Amy exclaimed triumphantly.

The Doctor sighed and looked up to face her, completely serious. "Yes, Rory and I did have a talk about Avalon, an he didn't say anything that wasn't true. That's it."

Amy scoffed. "Be more specific, will yah?" She inched closer to him, gently nudging him with a smirk. "You like her, don't you?" The Doctor refused to look up from the controls. "C'mon," Amy nudged him again, "It's just us. You like the girl from five minutes ago." She quietly laughed. "I can't believe it. Do you know Avalon's had a crush on you since we were seven?" The Doctor's head snapped up to meet her eyes, allowing Amy to see the disbelief in his own. "You didn't know?" She had to laugh again then. "You were a story for her ever since she was born. The hero coming to save the people in need? Honestly, how could she resist? So whatever Rory told you, throw that out the window, Raggedy Man, because Avalon is the only one who can make a decision."

There was the tiniest of smiles on the Doctor's lips for a minute that Amy was glad to see. But then he shook his head and moved away from her, once more pretending to be working on the console. "Rory's right. And that's my final word."

"When does Avalon's 'final word' get to come in, then?" challenged Amy who then heard him sigh. "Instead of making decisions behind her back, talk to her and see what she thinks, and that's exactly what I'm telling Rory too." With that, she walked down the console platform and headed for the corridors.

~ 0 ~

In a silk, pink robe Avalon stood at the end of her bed, intently staring down at the wedding dress she had placed on it, along with the veil. After getting properly patched up by Rory and showering, she felt it was time to get rid of Stella's dress.

But she couldn't bring herself to do it yet.

There was a soft knock on her bedroom that turned her attention away from it - momentarily.

"Come in," she said, sincerely hoping it was her antidote coming. She beamed with delight when the Doctor walked in holding a small vial of golden liquid in his hand. "Is that…?"

"Your antidote, Miss Reynolds," he walked up to her and held the tube.

"Oh my god," she sighed with such relief as she took the tube into her hands.

"Just drink that and no more will you be Princess Stella."

She didn't have to think a moment more. She tore off the cap, chucking it to the side, and drowned the entire liquid down her throat.

"Wow," the Doctor blinked.

"I'm a professional drinker," Avalon laughed and walked to put the glass on her vanity desk.

The Doctor smiled at her then noticed the wedding dress still on her bed. Avalon turned around and saw where his attention had drifted to.

"You know-" she began walking back to him, "-when I was little I used to dream of the perfect wedding day with the perfect wedding dress and husband. Never in my life did I think that the first wedding dress I would wear would be for a ceremony like this."

"Avalon, I'm really sorry about that," sighed the Doctor, running a hand through his hair. He tried his very best to keep her safe and it never worked. "I should have just given you that water to to help you rest and-"

"I wanted to go, Doctor. How were we going to know some crazy princess was going to switch faces with me?" Avalon laughed. "Even you can't see that. Can you?"

"No," he admitted.

Avalon leaned towards the dress, passing a hand down it. "I have to admit that this crazy day made me think about my actual wedding. Would I still get to have one?"

"Wh-why wouldn't you…?" the Doctor asked, suddenly nervous.

She threw him a smirk. "Have you met me, Doctor? You know what people in Leadworth thought of me, I think it's safe to say that no man in that town is going to be marrying me. Do aliens have a rule against marrying a human?"

"What!?" the Doctor nearly choked.

"You know, in case I were to meet someone," she said, eyeing his strange behavior.

"I think you are going to find someone that actually deserves you," he cleverly came up with.

She sighed and looked down at the dress again. "I sincerely doubt that." Her eyes flickered to the side where he couldn't see her true meaning. "I foresee that...it might be difficult - if not impossible - to marry someone I would like. I'm not exactly deserving."

"You know that's not true," the Doctor said back.

"Is it?" she looked at him inquisitively. "Because maybe I've already met that person...somewhere along the way...but he's so...different." She walked up to him, her eyes never leaving his. "And he's...he's great, he's so great that I...I don't think I could match up to him. Could I truly say that I deserve him?"

The Doctor felt his breath leave his exhaustive lungs with that intent stare on him. He had to put all his will and bravery into it before he lost it. "I think-" he put his hands on her arms, "-that anyone who could catch your eye should consider himself the luckiest man alive." He moved one hand to brush a ginger lock from her face, eyes locked on hers to not see her growing smile. "And one day, you will have the wedding of your dreams with the man that actually deserves you. I think...he will be one fantastic...human...man."

Avalon's smile faded from her lips.

Upholding a soft smile just to pass through, the Doctor kissed her hair and backtracked. "I'll leave you to rest."

Avalon didn't say a word when he walked out. Her eyes, mildly with tears, flickered to the wedding dress on the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where I anyone can comment about a story or even just talk! I drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	8. The Queen of the Fest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The travelers come across a festival of games. The Sapling goes crazy with all the fun times, specifically drawn to the ducks!

Today was a good day. In fact, it was a _very_ good day because today was the day that the Doctor finally had to do his bit after losing a bet with Avalon. He'd been pushing it back for a while but Avalon no longer allowed it. She'd beat him fair and square at fencing and he had to pay up.

He had to teach her how to drive the TARDIS.

"I'm the one who's going to teach River Song one day, don't you remember?" Avalon followed the Doctor around the console, rolling her eyes each time he huffed at her reasons. He was purposely delaying it even now when he had no choice.

"We don't trust that woman in this TARDIS!"

"Nice try. She said that _I_ teach her how to drive the TARDIS in the future so _you_ have to show me first. Quit being a baby!"

" _Baby_!?" the Doctor suddenly turned around, making her crash into him. "I am _not_ being a baby!"

"It's sad, I know, since you're like 2000 or whatever and me, a 22 year old, won your watch and your box," Avalon sarcastically said, earning herself quite a glare from the man. "Just teach me already! I told the Sapling we'd watch another movie in an hour, so - chop! chop!"

The Doctor grumbled but finally went ahead with the teaching. He brought her to a specific part of the console, warning her that she needed to pay attention or else she might just kill them.

"I'm not an idiot, I do drive," she informed him after one particular condescending remark from him.

He snorted behind her. "Right. Rory's told me some of those stories and you, my friend, are the least person indicated to speak about _my_ driving."

Avalon chose not to listen to that comment and instead focused on the console. She did actually want to learn how to control the box. The TARDIS was always so kind to her that Avalon liked to believe there was a special relationship between them. _A relationship with a box, you're cool!_ she would tell herself every now and then. She put one hand on a lever and the other on a knob, "Okay, so then I go...with that one?" she turned her head to the lever with a hopeful face.

The Doctor stood beside her, overlooking the scene with nervousness. He could see that she really was trying and that calmed his sarcasm a bit...but some of that sarcasm just had a mind of its own. "No, you just killed us. Way to go."

Avalon made a face and took her hands off the console in frustration. "I'm _trying_ but you're making unnecessarily hard!"

"Not really," the Doctor shook his head, "It's quite simple." He had to admit that he took pleasure watching her face get almost as red as her hair. It was just too funny sometimes. She really did have the worst temper.

"You're not a good teacher! Is there anyone else around? Oh!" Avalon raised a finger in the air. "I know! I can just call River and she can teach me so that when the time comes, I can teach her!" she clapped her hands excitedly. "Great idea!"

" _No!_ " the Doctor practically shouted. "River will never touch my console! You can learn this, Ava, you just have to focus!"

"To be quite honest with you, I've never really been good at school," Avalon folded her arms. "I ditched half the time. Honestly, I don't even know how I graduated."

"Some people don't go to school and are complete geniuses."

"Oh, so you think I'm a genius?" she shot him a smug smirk, making him roll his eyes at her.

"Let's just try again," he motioned her to take her spot at the console again. "Alright, you have to move that little knob." He reached for her hand to move it himself. "You turn that slowly or you'll burn a hole in reality."

"No pressure," Avalon blinked and now very cautiously, and slowly, turned the knob.

"I'm trying to keep the universe intact, alright?"

Avalon rolled her eyes this time. She started to listen to his instructions and kept her sarcastic remarks to a minimum and, to her surprise, it did make a difference. At one point, she could proudly say that she was driving the TARDIS!

"Yes! I did it!" she cheered to herself then hugged the Doctor. "See! I told you I could do it!"

"Right, because you didn't yell at me a dozen times, right?" he sarcastically said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Of course not!" she said completely seriously that the Doctor almost believed her.

"Mother, I found your picture book!" the Sapling came rushing into the console, almost as excited as Avalon was, carrying a pink photo album above his head.

Avalon chuckled. "I told you it's called a photo album. And give me that-" she took it from his hands and tucked it behind her, "-before he sees any of them."

The Doctor blinked and pointed at himself. "Me? Why can't I see it?"

"Because it's my photo album of when I was a kid and I don't need your sarcastic remarks about me."

"You make sarcastic remarks about me all the time!"

"Yes, but it's different."

The Doctor closed his eyes for a second because if he didn't calm down he might just snap.

"Can we look at them now?" the Sapling put his hands together.

"I thought you wanted to watch another movie?"

"Yes but I would much rather see pictures of my mother when she was a child like me!"

"Mm, something tells me that we're not going to look alike," Avalon side-glanced the Doctor, just barely managing to hold off her laugh.

"Can we, Mother? Please?" the Sapling didn't know he was making his best hopeful look, but Avalon had long learned that she couldn't resist it. He was a child and a cute tree child at that!

"Oh, alright, fine!"

"Can I come?" the Doctor raised a finger but Avalon immediately shut him down.

"Absolutely not!"

"I won't make sarcastic remarks, I promise!"

"Don't make promises you can't keep," Avalon warned him. "Remember '5 minutes'?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to argue but...that was a very good comeback. His nose wrinkled when he concluded this was a lost battle.

Avalon laughed at him. "Oh my God, you're hilarious. Come along," she used his favorite words for them. She brought him towards the corridor while the Sapling happily led the way.

They found a comfortable spot in the media room - the Sapling liked to call it the 'fun room' - and Avalon went through every page of her childhood with them both. She honestly thought the Sapling would get bored after a few pages, or at the very least the Doctor would get bored - they both had the same limited attention span - but to her surprise, both were very interested in her.

"That's when Lena and I went to the zoo." Avalon chuckled at the memory while she tapped a finger over her 5 year old's face who looked completely mortified. "I was so scared of elephants."

"What?" the Doctor had to pause the whole story. He was looking incredulously at Avalon. "The great Avalon Reynolds is afraid of elephants?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Hey those are huge animals, alright? One swing of their trunks and you're dead. Plus, they can stomp on you!"

It was hard for the Doctor not to laugh. "I can't believe this."

"It's alright, Mother," the Sapling put a reassuring hand on Avalon's arm. "Everyone has fears."

Avalon then shot the Doctor a sharp look. "See that? A child understands that better than you."

"Yeah alright, sorry. I promise if there's ever elephants nearby, I'll protect you," he said without thinking of the implications of it. Still, he realized it when her expression softened.

"As you should," she mumbled, trying to play it off casually. But for better caution, she returned her attention to the photo album and turned the page over.

"Hey, they have the same hair as you, mother," the Sapling was quick to point out the two ginger-haired men on the top left corner of the page.

Avalon's smile was a bit sad as she agreed. "You're right. That's my dad," she pointed at Ryland, but had to wonder if she should even call him that. She had no idea if she was even his daughter at all. "And that's his brother, uncle Oliver."

"I didn't know you had extended family," the Doctor noted that the man looked similar to Ryland. The only exception was Oliver Reynolds was a foot taller.

"We don't," Avalon said quietly, her eyes still on the photograph. "I never met uncle Oliver. Dad said he died in college. Accident or something."

"I'm sorry Ava," the Doctor said, first because he didn't know what else to say and second because he knew how she already viewed her life.

"It's fine," Avalon shrugged her shoulders. "Didn't even know him. Besides, I've got loads of family problems anyways to be thinking about someone I don't even know."

"Who's that?" the Sapling pointed at the picture on the next page, one of Avalon's entire family.

"Do you not know any of them?" Avalon watched the Sapling practically press his face to the page.

"Well, I know them because of your memories," the Sapling leaned back only because Avalon had pulled him back. "But I don't really _know_ them, except for aunt Lena."

"Right, 'aunt'," Avalon repeated, her eyes widening a bit. It was so odd hearing the Sapling talk like that about her family. In his eyes, her sister was an 'aunt', her brother was his 'uncle' and her father was his 'grandfather'. "Well, this is the Reynolds' family. We have Lena, we have Gavin, we have - had...Emmalina..."

"She's very pretty," the Sapling remarked with a grin only an excited child could have.

"Yeah, she was..."

"And that's my grandfather!" the Sapling happily pointed at Ryland Reynolds standing on the left side of the picture.

"Yeah... _if_ ," Avalon's quiet choice of words drew the Doctor's gaze to her. She was staring at the picture not with the same joy of the Sapling, but instead she was gazing at it with a bit of...anger?

"If?" he repeated a moment later.

She tore her eyes from the picture and met his. "Yeah. If."

"What do you...what do you mean?"

"Oh," the Sapling suddenly blinked beside Avalon. "I think Mother is trying to say that she has questions about whether or not my grandfather is truly her father."

"Sapling!" Avalon exclaimed.

The Doctor's reaction, however, was an honest shock. He started moving up from the couch. "Hey, hold on!"

"Was I not supposed to say that?" the Sapling innocently asked.

"No, just..." Avalon sighed and put on her best smile for him, wanting him to feel that everything was still fine and that no one was angry with him. "Why don't you go and see what Amy and Rory are doing? I heard they were going to make hot chocolate."

The Sapling's face pulled into a grin. "Oh yes! I hope it's pink hot chocolate!" he jumped out of the couch with no further questions.

When he was gone, Avalon sighed again and shut the photo album. "You see, this is why I didn't want you to look at my pictures."

The Doctor's expression turned incredulity. "Oh, so now this is _my_ fault?"

"No," she rolled her eyes. "Look, Doctor, I didn't want to make a big deal out of this so I never said anything."

"But...but how could you keep that bottled inside?" but as soon as he asked that, he smacked himself on the forehead (making her wince with such force). "You're Avalon, of course you would do that." She had to roll her eyes again. "So let me...let me get this straight, you _know_ that you might not be your father?"

"Yeah," she shrugged. The Doctor leaned forwards, as if waiting for a more emotional response. She groaned. "Doctor, I've had years to get over the 'angry' part of this. It's a done deal, literally. The deal was made when I was born. My mother...didn't want me. And maybe my father, if he's not Ryland, was also in on the deal. I'm fine, seriously."

"No, you're not," the Doctor tried reaching for her arm so she backed away. "Ava-"

"-no!" Avalon exclaimed, now showing that anger the Doctor was waiting for. "Doctor, you know I value your words and your opinions but this one-" she made a point with her finger, "-is not up for discussion. This is the one thing I will not talk about with anyone."

"I get that but it could perhaps be more complicated than what you've thought of!"

A sour laugh slipped through Avalon's lips. "Complicated? N-n-n-o. It's not complicated at all. My mother and possibly my real birth father didn't want me. From the very start of my life I was a nuisance. They just figured it out quicker than most people usually do." She turned moved around the couch to leave, but stopped at the doorway for one more thing. "And you better not say anything to Amy and Rory. I don't want anyone else to know."

The Doctor opened his mouth to call after her but she was already gone.

~ 0 ~

Breakfast between Amy and Rory was unusually quiet. However, Rory began noticing the strange looks Amy would give him from time to time when he wasn't looking her way. It puzzled him because he had no idea if he'd done something to anger her. As far as he knew, he'd done things right so far.

"Okay," he sighed after catching Amy's latest stare. "What did I do?" He didn't really expect an answer, so when Amy responded with an ' _seriously?_ ' he knew he was a goner. "What?" he asked again and prepared himself for the worst and possibly to beg.

Amy silently lowered her mug to the table and perhaps purposely let a few seconds pass by before saying anything. "I know what you did."

Ah, so she was going to be cryptic. Rory inwardly sighed. This oughta be fun trying to guess his latest error. "I did a lot of things. Can we narrow it down? Like, was it something I did yesterday?" Amy stared at him with pursed lips, her expression slowly turning flat. "No? Okay, how about this morning?" Amy cocked her head to the side. "Amy, honestly, this would just be a lot easier if you tell me what I did wrong."

Amy sighed with exasperation. "I know what you told the Doctor, Rory! About Avalon? With all honesty, how dare you?"

Rory blinked. "What? Wait, you know...?"

"I got it out of him," Amy dismissed further explanations. _She_ didn't have to explain anything, _he_ did. "Rory, I've always thought it was a little strange how close you and Avalon are."

"Oh Amy, c'mon! We're not really doing _that_ discussion again, are we?" he rolled his eyes. "There is nothing between Avalon and I-"

"-oh I know and that's why it's even more weird now! You're just super close to her and I think you're taking decisions that aren't yours to make. I mean, really, telling the Doctor he should stay away from Avalon? That's borderline manipulation if we're being technical."

"I was _not_ trying to manipulate anyone!" Rory said first and foremost to leave things clear. "I was being honest. The Doctor is a kind man but he is also _extremely_ dangerous who has more enemies than he can count! Are you going to argue that it's not true?" He watched as Amy shifted in her chair, obviously unable to argue on the Doctor's behalf. "Exactly. Now Avalon is no white dove but she doesn't deserve to inherit enemies just because she's the Doctor's new girlfriend. I love them both but I can't let anything happen to Avalon. It's something beyond me."

Amy sighed heavily. Leave it to her husband to be so incredibly kind and yet so stupid at the same time. "Rory, I understand what you're trying to do but the bottom line here is that only Avalon and the Doctor can decide about their future relationship. You are her friend-"

"-best friend," Rory interrupted, raising a finer to make his point.

"Best friend," Amy shook her head with a small smile. "You are her best friend, _not_ her father. I feel like this is something that you've never really gotten. It's just weird, Rory."

"I can't help it," Rory honestly said. "I just want to make sure she's okay. Plus...I don't know why but lately I've had this feeling in my gut that something's coming. Something bad."

Amy picked up her mug and briefly frowned at him for such negative thoughts. "Like what?"

"Well, for starters, how about the Scream we haven't completely beaten yet? He's still out there, searching for the Sapling and us."

"One lone Silence we can deal with, no problem," Amy scoffed. They deal with a massive invasion already - this was child's play.

"Right but then there's also something else, something I can't quite describe. I just know that it's bad and I don't want anyone to get hurt, especially you and Avalon."

Amy could smile at that. She reached for one of his hands across the table. "I think we're all going to be just fine. Of course if Avalon ever hears what you said to the Doctor, your life could be over as we know it." She patted his hand and went back to her mug, leaving Rory frozen for a moment.

~ 0 ~

The TARDIS had only landed for a few seconds when the Sapling burst through the doors. The others heard his loud, deep gasp on their way out. "Oh, I love this place! I want to ride and play _everything_!"

"Where exactly are we?" Amy asked when she got a good look at the huge amusement park-looking place. It seemed like any other regular amusement park one would find on Earth, but then Avalon made the same gasp the Sapling had.

" _No way_!" she laughed. "This is Fantasy Fest!"

"Fantasy _what_?" Rory watched as the woman practically bounced on her feet. Her eyes twinkled as she took in one part of the festival and then the next. Besides the typical amusement park games one would find - like the ferris wheel and the merry-go-round - Avalon turned her sights to the ongoing individual stage shows happening in different parts of the place. There seemed to be a karaoke show going on, a comedy competition, an actual _magic_ show...

Avalon could faint at any second now. "This is _amazing_!" she clapped her hands excitedly. "I've never been to Fantasy Fest-"

"-but you've wanted to so I figured why not?" the Doctor smiled at her and watched as she went from one side to the other, observing the different games. She looked radiantly happy.

"Is anyone going to tell us what this place is?" Rory raised a hand to see if that would get him the attention he needed.

Avalon tore her gaze from the amusement park and turned to Rory. "Fantasy Fest is a 51st century entertainment sight! It's is exactly what you hear in the same! It's a place where all of your creativity can flow! Plus, it's got wicked games and shows 24/7! Not to mention some pretty good restaurants and bars!"

Rory's face went flat at the last part. "Stay away from those."

"So this place is an entire planet?" Amy could get along with the vibe of the place. It definitely seemed a lot safer than their recent trips.

"No, it's on New Earth," the Doctor answered just before the Sapling made his own comment.

"It's where Mother was born!"

Amy and Rory went into similar states of shock. They viewed the amusement park again, and its surrounding forest landscape, with new eyes. This is where _Avalon_ was born?

"It's weird, I forget that you were born in the future," Amy admitted after a moment. Avalon rolled her eyes. "It's like, you're from the future basically."

"Not quite. I barely remember what my New Earth home looked like," Avalon shrugged. "But that's not the point here. Doctor, why are we here suddenly? You've never mentioned coming to this place before. Why now?"

"Uuh..." the Doctor, despite his best efforts, looked like he was caught. "I-I just...I wanted us to have a nice day, that's all."

"And we will!" the Sapling bounced beside him, much like his mother had just minutes before.

"Okay," Rory said loudly as he made his way to Avalon. "I think it's time to establish some rules..." Avalon groaned loudly as she knew what kind of rules he was going to lay, "...and _Avalon_ I want you to pay _extra_ attention," Avalon made a face but let him continue, "There is to be no drinking without supervision and no more than two glasses. You are not to enter any place that looks bad on your own. And please, for the love of God, be nice to people," he patted her cheek, Avalon moving as if to bite his finger, "And no biting."

Avalon smirked and pretended to bite again.

"And no being on your own!" Rory called after her but she kept going.

"I can be with Mother!" the Sapling happily volunteered. "She's very good at games..."

"You mean she's a cheater," Amy folded her arms, giving Avalon a knowing smile. "Because oh yeah you're a cheater."

"Not true," Avalon said defensibly then threw a thumb in the Doctor's direction, "I won his watch and TARDIS driving lessons fair and square. Tell 'em, Doctor."

"I'd rather not," the Time Lord said in a mutter, still disappointed over his losses. As if to further sting him, Avalon raised her wrist that proudly wore his old watch. "We can go right back in there," he nodded at the TARDIS.

"Sure," she laughed and turned to the amusement park. "Now let's get started people!"

~ 0 ~

"Food on stick?" a man stopped the Sapling who'd been interested in a certain duck game. The Sapling excitedly nodded and took the stick that seemed to be holding a kabob.

Just as he was about to take a bite of it, the Doctor swooped in to take it away. "No thank you," he politely said to the man and returned the kabob.

"But I really wanted one," the Sapling pouted after the man had gone.

"Sorry but there's certain food here that I don't think are quite good for our stomachs," the Doctor explained but the Sapling didn't seem to buy it.

"Well...then how come Mother gets to have some?" he pointed a finger towards Avalon a few feet away from them. She'd just accepted a kabob stick from the same man and took a huge bite from the top.

"This is delicious!" she exclaimed in-between chews.

"Avalon!" the Doctor ran towards her to take the the kabob away, only she knew exactly his intentions so she pulled her arm away.

"You need to go get your own, mister!"

"Those aren't that good for your stomachs, you know. I've had companions get really sick."

"Yes except your previous companions have been mostly human," Avalon reminded with a smug smile. "I-" she put a hand on her chest, "-am an evolutionized human. My biology is not the same as your typical 21st century human."

"Avalon, I'm just trying to keep you from getting sick. That's all."

"Doctor, we're at Fantasy Fest. You need to loosen up," she took another bite of her kabob and initially missed the Doctor's offended face.

"I _am_ loose, thank you very much!"

"I just mean that you're always busy saving people that I bet you never just take a day off. To say, you didn't even take a night off when you finished rebooting the universe!"

"I know how to have fun! I'm the Doctor, don't you remember?"

"Then prove it. For tonight, I don't want to hear any 'no we shouldn't do that' or just any of your usual overprotective crap. Can you do that?" she raised a challenging eyebrow, an expression that the Doctor couldn't walk away from. She wanted to challenge him? _Fine_. He could do it.

"You're on," he straightened his tweed jacket for the game.

"Yeah?"

"I can do this, no problem," he said since she wasn't looking very convinced of him.

"Really?"

"Of course."

"Great," she said, suddenly putting on a sarcastic smile, "Because your tree child just stole a duck from that game over there." She turned him around with her free hand and let him see the Sapling cradling a duck in his arms.

The Doctor's widened in alarm. "Sapling don't -"

"-ah, what happened to being _loose_?" Avalon was smirking behind him.

"He stole a duck!"

"Yeah I know. I did that when I was 7. I almost got away with it but the duck decided to start making noises inside the car," Avalon shook her head at the memory. "I was going to name him Chewey."

"Mother! Father! Look!" the Sapling came rushing towards them with his duck in his arms. "I got a duck! I want to name him Chewey!"

"Ah, see?" Avalon looked at the Doctor and pointed at the Sapling, close to laughing. "Somehow I _did_ get away with it, I guess."

The Doctor's eyes flickered between Avalon and the Sapling, wondering who would drive him more insane by the end of the night. At least he could say the Sapling wasn't doing it on purpose.

~ 0 ~

The trio walked along the festival trying out different games. After the Doctor explained to the Sapling why they couldn't just take a duck, they returned the animal to its rightful place and decided to give the game an actual go.

"Come on number 40!" the Doctor waved his fish hook high in the air - almost smacking Avalon behind him if she hadn't ducked - then threw the hook into the large pond of plastic ducks.

"Why number 40?" Avalon asked after it was safe to stand straight again.

"I like the number 40. It's really nice!" he grinned like a true idiot and put his best efforts on catching the plastic ducks.

"You better win something because the Sapling _really_ wants the duck," Avalon nodded towards their tree child gazing at the smaller pond of _actual_ ducks beside the stand. Anyone who managed to hook a plastic duck was able to win a real-life duck.

"No pressure," the Doctor muttered.

"They quack!" the Sapling's childish laughter carried over to their spot.

"Oh don't touch them," Avalon caught him as he was about to stick a finger into a nearby duck's mouth. "They bite, trust me!"

The Sapling laughed again. "I remember, mother. You were bit by a duck!"

"Yeah," Avalon rubbed her right hand's index finger. "I made the same mistake you were about to do."

The Sapling happened to look behind her and gasped. Avalon turned around to see what had captured his attention now and admitted that it was a pretty good sight. There was a fire-breathing woman doing her own show across from them.

"Let's go see!" the Sapling took off without waiting to hear Avalon's decision. Instead, she went back to the Doctor's side and watched him miserably failing to hook a plastic duck.

"Dammit!" he exclaimed after getting his hook stuck in the corner of the pond.

"Oh Doctor, give it up," Avalon put a hand on his arm. "Besides, the Sapling's got something new in mind now." She made him see the fire-breathing woman across them.

The Doctor let go of the hook at that moment, making Avalon laugh when he didn't even pick it up from the ground. He was _that_ frustrated with the game. Turns out he wasn't all that good.

"I have to admit, you _are_ kind of fun today," Avalon said as they made their way towards the fire-breathing woman.

"I'm fun _every day_ ," the Doctor corrected.

"I just have to ask one thing," Avalon swiftly slid in front of him, forcing him to stop walking. "Why are were all of a sudden? I've mentioned this place a couple times when we were traveling on our own and you always, and I quote, ' _hell no_!'. So why are we here today?"

"Uh, well, you know, um..." the Doctor stammered while he tried to string an actual, proper excuse.

Avalon raised an eyebrow at him, watching him suffer until she decided to take pity on him. "Could it have anything to do with our conversation in the morning?"

"Um, no, uh...no course not, no," the Doctor brought a hand to the back of his neck and tried to avoid her gaze.

"Oh my goodness," Avalon shook her head, not even surprised anymore. "Doctor, I said you could just forget about it! You weren't in any trouble - I wasn't even mad at you! You didn't have to bring us here just for me."

"Well, I..." the Doctor sighed.

Avalon stepped closer to him, bringing one of her hands up to his cheek. "Everything's okay, Fairy Tale Man. You don't have to trouble yourself with things that aren't even important."

"They _are_ important, Avalon, because it's about you and something that's clearly been affecting you since you were a child." The Doctor hated wiping away her smile with his words, but he knew she'd been denying that truth for a very long time. "You haven't processed the fact that you don't know who your mother and that your father might not even be your father. You've been burying that for so long now..."

"I haven't," Avalon argued weakly, almost a frail whisper. She brought her hand down and looked away. Now that her smile was gone she instead portrayed the grimness that came along with the 'burying'. "But it's not that easy wondering every day what made my parents decided to give me up, to _abandon_ me. And you know what? That's why I prefer to bury it. Because if I bury it, then I don't have to feel that pain. So yes," her eyes flickered to him again, "I might be ignoring it but that's what's worked for me."

The Doctor wanted to so badly say it hadn't worked for her, but he couldn't further drive her towards pain. Instead, he could try to find ways for her to release that pain somewhere. "

~ 0 ~

Avalon poked her head into a backstage tent and a few seconds later, the Sapling did the same.

"Mother, why are we here?" he asked while Avalon scanned the tent for anyone who could catch them. Luckily, the tent seemed to be empty.

"Because Mommy's going to have some fun," she answered with a proud smirk as she finally walked into the tent. The backstage tent was for the runway show currently happening. "The runway competition says whoever wins becomes the Queen of the Festival and if I win, I'll get you that duck you wanted."

The Sapling nodded excitedly. "Yes! What do we need to do!?"

"You can start by not running away from me," the Doctor had come into the tent looking pretty peeved at the pair.

"We weren't running away," Avalon said but the smirk on her face gave her up. "I just wanted to come here..."

"Here?" the Doctor pointed the empty tent. As he looked around he saw it was just a glorified make up room.

"Of course! I want to be Queen of the Festival - Queen of the Fest!" Avalon threw her arms into the air, grinning from ear to ear. "And the only way to do that..." she strode with purpose towards a black rack of beautiful, glimmering gowns, "...is to sneak into the competition."

"Ava, maybe we should just go," the Doctor said, but Avalon was already going through the different gowns.

"Oh don't worry," she looked over her shoulder. "We won't get caught with your psychic paper. Plus, really, I doubt anyone will mind if I sneak into a competition in this place. It's supposed to be casual, remember? No security or anything." She grabbed a pink gown that she thought seemed very similar to Sleeping Beauty's famous pink dress. "Ah, this should do it!"

"It's beautiful, Mother," the Sapling clapped his hands when she showed them the dress.

"There's no talking you out of this, is there?" the Doctor asked her despite already knowing the answer.

"Uh, no, there is not."

"Right," the Doctor nodded.

Avalon slipped on the dress over her clothes and rushed to the mirror to check how she looked. "Can someone just zip up the back?"

The Doctor walked up behind her and pulled the zipper all the way. "Just try not to get into trouble," he warned as she turned around, "The psychic paper can only do so much."

"I can take care of it," she assured and held a hand out for the psychic paper.

_"Don't_ lose it," he warned before handing the psychic paper to her.

"Yeah, yeah, you'll be waiting right? Cos if I get in trouble I'm taking you with me."

"Yup, that's Ava," the Doctor made a face as the ginger strode out of the tent. He turned around to see the Sapling waiting for him.

"Do you think Mother will win?" he asked.

"I think...Avalon will probably find a way," the Doctor smiled to himself. Avalon always found a way, even if it was a disaster. But he liked that about her, the way she managed to be so disastrous yet someone who would risk her life for someone else.

~ 0 ~

Avalon tried her best hurrying up to the small line of women waiting to go down the runway. Before they could do that, though, they needed to get passed a man and woman checking their papers. Avalon assumed they were the people in charge checking for references of some sort. She could not believe she was doing this, well...on some level. She'd stolen a gown that no doubt a woman would later be filing a report for later.

When it was Avalon's turn, she handed over the psychic paper and was delighted when the man and the woman accepted her 'application' without a single strand of hesitation. Now it was time to go down the runway.

Flashes of Milan popped into her head. She'd done the same things: stolen a model's outfit and lied her way into the competition. She inwardly laughed because the last time she pulled that stunt, the Doctor had been furious with her for it and now...now he was helping her do it. How times could change.

With a hand behind her back that hid the psychic paper, she marched on. She loved the attention of the crowd, even more so that she was duping them all. Her eyes scanned the area for the Doctor and the Sapling as she went down the runway. She stopped at the end of the runway where a blonde man - she presumed the host of the show - was waiting for her.

"You're kinda cute," the guy remarked with a smile. "What's your name?"

"Avalon Reynolds."

"Well Miss Reynolds, we have one challenge for you. Do you think you can do it?"

"Pshh, I can do anything," Avalon thanked her stars she was brave enough to be this confident even when she had no idea what was going to be that challenge.

"Right," the man chuckled, as well as a few people from the crowd. "Your challenge is: you need to recite a poem that fits with the Fantasy Festival's theme, fantasy!"

"R-right now?" Avalon blinked. Her mind was already racking itself for something that could work. "On the spot?"

"Yup, that's the challenge! You've got 10 seconds!"

"Right," Avalon drew in a deep breath and recited the only poem that came to mind, a poem that was still a genuine mystery to her.

_"A little fairy comes at night,_

_Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown'_

_with silver spots upon her wings,_

_And from the moon she flutters down._

_She has a little silver wand,_

_And when a good child goes to bed_

_She waves her wand from right to left_

_And makes a circle round her head,_

_And then it dreams of pleasant things,_

_Of fountains filled with fairy fish,_

_And trees that bear delicious fruit,_

_And bow their branches at a wish;_

_Of arbours filled with dainty scents_

_From lovely flowers that never fade,_

_Bright 'flies that flitter in the sun,_

_And glow-worms shining in the shade;_

_And talking birds with gifted tongues_

_For singing songs and telling tales,_

_And pretty dwarfs to show the way_

_Through the fairy hills and fairy dales."_

The poem had come out like a song, like a lullaby song but even when she finished it, Avalon could not remember where on Earth she had heard that poem. The TARDIS, when she was Idris, had been the one to remind her of it but of course kept its origins cryptic.

Still, the poem earned Avalon several rounds of applause.

"That was actually amazing," the Doctor remarked to the Sapling while Avalon was instructed to return backstage. He'd heard Avalon sing a couple times and she did have a rather nice voice, but she didn't do it very often. "She hasn't talked about poems in a long time."

"I loved it," the Sapling agreed beside him. "And Mother loved it too when she heard it, even though she was just born."

The Doctor turned his head in the Sapling's direction. "How do you mean?"

"I have Mother's memories, remember? I can remember things she remembers as a baby because she's only 22. I can't remember yours, though because you're a lot older."

The Doctor would ignore the innocent jab at his age for the sake of the vital information the Sapling was giving. "So this...this was a poem...Avalon's mother said to her when she was born?"

"Mhm, she sang it. It's a lullaby song," the Sapling nodded. "But Mother was too small to understand. She just thought her Mother was singing pretty."

"You...you remember Avalon's mother!?" the Doctor exclaimed. "Her actual mother!? Birth mother!?"

Because the Sapling retained a good portion of Avalon's memories, the fact she was adopted wasn't a secret. He just didn't mention it because he knew his Mother wouldn't like it. "I saw her but it's very fuzzy since Mother was just a newborn baby."

"That's...that's amazing!" the Doctor was grinning from ear to ear. "This could help Avalon! You are amazing, Sapling!" he took the Sapling into a tight hug then dropped a kiss to the top of his head. He would ignore the small taste of bark towards the end because of the exciting news.

~ 0 ~

Avalon had won the title 'Queen of the Fest'. She proudly wore a golden crown on top of her ginger curls so that everyone who saw her later on in the day would know that _she_ was the _Queen_. Once she was free to go, she returned to the backstage tent to leave behind her 'borrowed' gown then hurried out to find the Doctor and the Sapling. Luckily for her, they were already waiting for her.

"I won! Did you see that!? I won!" she practically jumped on the Doctor in her happiness.

He took her into her hug and held her tightly. "Of course you would. You're an absolute Queen!"

She laughed and pulled away, though she handed him her psychic paper back. "Sapling my dear, how about we get you that duck now?"

"Yes!" the Sapling loved her idea. He made sure that his parents followed him towards the duck stand before running off ahead.

"Ava, the Sapling just told me something incredible," the Doctor began as soon as he could.

"What?" she asked him, amused by his excitement.

"That poem you recited? He knew it! He remembered it when your birth mother recited it to you!"

Avalon stopped walking suddenly and turned to him. "Wait...he means...like...like my..." the Doctor nodded, willing her to finish the question. "My...my birth mother?"

"Yes! The images are fuzzy because you were a newborn but with some technology in the TARDIS, I'm sure that I can clear up that image and you'll know who your birth mother is! Isn't that great?"

Avalon was silent instead of excited like the Doctor would've figured she would be. She looked to the side, nowhere in particular, and thought about the fact she could actually know who gave birth to her. However, just thinking about it made her stomach churn. "No," she said finally then continued walking after the Sapling, leaving behind a very confused Doctor.

"No?" he repeated then went after her. "Did you just say 'no'?"

"Yeah, I said no because I don't want it."

"But...but you _did_ hear me right? It's your birth mother! You could get all your questions answered!"

"Except that I don't want to know who she is!"

"No, no, hold on!" the Doctor hurried to go past her and stand in front of her. "Why don't you want to know? I mean, this could ease your pain, give you answers that you deserve, and you could meet the person who gave life to you."

"Except that I don't want to know her!" Avalon repeated louder and with far more emotion than before. "I _hate_ her!" she viciously spat but it wasn't even at him, it was the horrid woman she wanted to leave behind in the past where she belonged. "You don't get that? That woman - whoever she is - _left_ me! She abandoned me when I was just a newborn! Why the hell would I _ever_ -" she gritted her teeth together, struggling not to shout again, "- want to meet her stupid face?"

The Doctor was stunned but that only lasted a few seconds before he started getting that 'I'm an idiot' feeling all over his body. He kept doing this all wrong and each time was worse than the previous one. "Avalon...I'm sorry..."

"I don't want..." Avalon forced herself to calm down because he was the last person she wanted to shout at. She knew what he was trying to do but she just didn't want it. "Doctor, I get that you just want to help but I don't want it. I don't want to meet my mother because it would _hurt_ to see her and get rejected all over again. Imagine, she decided that baby-me wasn't worth keeping around...what would she say about this me right now?" Tears filled her eyes the more she thought about her terrible reality, the reality she'd for so long pushed away. "I'm a thief, I'm rude, I lie...she made the right call but it doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt."

"Ava..." the Doctor didn't know what to say to make things better, so he pulled her into a tight hug. He held her shaking body and let her cry into his jacket. He wanted to ease her pain but he only seemed to make it worse. He would just need to drop it already and instead focus on zoning on whatever made Avalon happy. He loved seeing her happy, seeing her laugh and definitely bantering with her. He probably liked her a little _too_ much but he couldn't help it.

"Mother, why are you crying?" the Sapling had noticed his parents didn't catch up with him and so he returned to see his father hugging her crying figure.

Hearing his voice, Avalon pulled away from the Doctor. She sniffed and wiped away as much tears as she could. "I just got sad for a bit, nothing to worry about."

The Sapling cocked his head to the side. "Why did you get sad?"

"My fault," the Doctor had to admit, but Avalon shook her head at him.

"Of course not," she rested a hand on his arm and looked to the Sapling again. "I just get sad sometimes, that's all. Everyone does, right?"

The Sapling nodded his head but he realized that, for some reason, a lot of his mother's memories weren't always nice ones. "You can have my duck if you want," he said as a means to comfort her and it did make Avalon genuinely laugh for a moment.

"I'd much rather have one of those stars we saw earlier," she said as a joke but the Sapling jumped on the idea.

He'd seen the huge, stuffed purple stars hanging from a game stand before. He'd forgotten all about them because of the ducks but if a star would make his Mother happy then he would go win one for her. "Okay! I can play all night! C'mon!" He reached for Avalon's hand and the Doctor's to make sure that this time they followed him for sure.

~ 0 ~

The Sapling's plan had worked perfectly. Avalon had started laughing only a few minutes into their first round of the game, but not because they'd won her a star...

"Ha! You're such a loser!" Avalon laughed loudly when the Doctor chucked yet another ball towards the tin cans set on the table and hit absolutely nothing. "No wonder you always lose at sports."

"I do not lose..." the Doctor looked to the side and muttered, "...I just don't win."

Avalon laughed harder that she had to wrap her arms around her stomach because it hurt. "That's the same thing you idiot!"

"Oh...shut up," he made a face.

"I can try again!" the Sapling volunteered with one hand in the air. "I can get the star!"

"Ma'am," the man in charge of the game stopped by Avalon again, "I've already told you this. You're crowned Queen of the Fest, you don't _need_ to win it. I can give it to you for-"

"But then what's the point?" Avalon huffed, "It's like stealing it and I can do that anyways," the Doctor gave her a sharp look that made her shift, "Well, I _could_ do it," she mumbled, "But I wouldn't..." she straightened up with a deep breath, "I want that star through work not because I'm crowned a Queen. Only these two-" she threw a thumb at the Doctor and the Sapling, "-aren't very good at sports. My Sapling didn't exactly inherit my sport abilities."

"Alright, you know what, why don't _you_ try," the Doctor chucked a ball at her that she barely managed to catch. "Nothing would feel better than winning that star on your own, right?"

"Right," she said, rising to his level of challenge. She ushered him and the Sapling to the side then prepared to swing. Her arm went back and forth a couple times before throwing the ball towards the table of tin cans.

She missed.

" _Ha_!" the Doctor smirked at her.

"Oh, shut up," she rolled her eyes. "Let's take a break, then. Try something new." A few seconds after she said that, she felt her phone buzzing in her back pocket. "It's Amy," she told the Doctor before taking the call.

~ 0 ~

Eventually, the trio reunited with Amy and Rory near another stage full of people that were dancing. The two were drinking from glasses and conversing when they noticed the trio coming towards them.

"There you are," Rory breathed in relief as he hugged Avalon.

"Always a worrier," Avalon sighed as she hugged her best friend back.

Amy scoffed, "This time he took it to the top," she shook her head but paused abruptly when she noticed the golden crown over Avalon's head. "What...what is that?" Avalon's head raised to her crown in question. "What happened?"

"Oh, I won the title 'Queen of the Fest'," Avalon explained. "I'm the Queen of, well the festival! Isn't that great!?"

Amy seemed to think about how Avalon could possibly get that to happen but she ultimately decided that it was just about the thing Avalon would _make_ happen. "Yeah, alright."

"Oh my God, it's the Queen of the Fest!" a young woman ran up to the group, eyes gleaming when she saw Avalon. "You have to come dance! It's tradition!"

"Is it, though?" Avalon doubted that was true but had to laugh at the girl's insistence.

"I could do with a dance," Amy drowned the remainder of her glass and left it on a table. "Rory! Let's go!" She didn't Rory a chance to disagree, she just grabbed him by the arm and dragged him on.

"I don't want to," the Sapling folded his arms and crinkled his nose in disgust. "I'm actually kind of hungry." His eyes dazzled when he saw the resfreshment table had an ice cream vendor too, just like the others. "Can I have more ice cream?"

"I don't know about that, you've had way too many," the Doctor said, wondering how much ice cream it would take to make a tree child hyper.

"How about you get some of those chips instead?" Avalon turned the Sapling towards another table nearby that held a series of different tortilla chips with accompanying salsas. As it turned out, the Sapling had inherited her loves for spices.

"Oh! Yes!" he agreed fast.

"Just don't go overboard," Avalon warned before he rushed off.

"I still can't believe you had a spice competition with him," the Doctor shook his head when the Sapling was gone.

Avalon laughed at the memory. "Yeah, I still can't believe _he_ won. _I'm_ the spice-master here."

"You've passed on the title, I'm afraid."

"Yeah..." Avalon shook her head and had to laugh one more time. "Sometimes I still can't believe I'm technically a 'Mum'. I mean... _me_? But I guess if I had to have a kid, it was definitely going to be a _tree_ kid."

The Doctor side-glanced her with newfound curiosity. "You want to be a mother to your own biological child one day?"

"Um...not sure," Avalon admitted. "I don't know if I'm ever going to be 'Mum' material. The Sapling just got lucky he has _you_ for a parent because if he'd been stuck with just _me_..." she shuddered at the thought and the shudder was for the Sapling, not for her.

"Ava, it doesn't matter what you choose in the future but I know that you would be a wonderful, _interesting_ , mother."

Avalon returned his side-glance with a light flush in her face. "Interesting?"

"Yeah, you know...because you're _you_. That child would _never_ be bored...and would never be short on love from you," his soft smile made Avalon's flush turned into a deep blush. He knew exactly what he said and the weight it could bring but he meant every word of it. Avalon may not be the perfect woman but that was just fine, it's what set her apart from everyone else. She was unconventional but she had the biggest heart for someone who had suffered a lot in her past. The Sapling was lucky to have _her_ for a Mother because all the Doctor thought of himself was _darkness_. The Sapling with only _his_ side of memories would've created a dark creature. Avalon was the light, she was _his_ light.

_You **need** to stop thinking like that about her_, the Doctor berated himself. Somehow every time he thought about Avalon - no matter what it was - it always ended with him admitting that he truly felt something for her.

"Do you want to dance?" Avalon's sudden question drew him away from his thoughts. She'd been gazing at the dancers and thought maybe it would be nice to dance for a bit.

"Uh...s-sure," the Doctor stammered with his response but Avalon didn't seem to notice. She made sure the Sapling was within eyesight before going to the dance floor.

They found their rhythm very quickly even with the slow song that'd started.

"I think we're going to have to eventually pull the Sapling away from that chips and salsa table," Avalon chuckled when she caught the Sapling digging into his third bowl of chips. "You know that appetite's not mine, right? It's yours."

"Hey," went the Doctor in offence.

"It's okay," she patted his cheek, though the contact with his skin made her blush. "I'm thinking maybe we can get you into the whole salsa thing too! How much salsa does it take to spice you up, huh?"

"Ava..." the Doctor laughed quietly.

"I'm serious," she leaned on him without noticing. "A competition between you, me and the Sapling. Who'd win?"

"I'd rather not, you're actually very competitive and it's not very healthy."

Now it was Avalon's turn to laugh. "Shut up, no I'm not." She happened to look up at him and realized they were closer than she realized. "But I mean...if you want a different type of game, we can work something out."

"I don't think so. You won't be tricking me anytime soon."

"I don't trick," Avalon argued in a whisper.

The Doctor didn't respond to her anymore. He was too close to her think properly and, honestly, he couldn't really remember what they were talking about in the first place. He was noticing that her blue eyes had little flecks of gold in them, tiny ones that no one could possibly see unless they were _really_ close. He swallowed hard. Her lips were curved into a pretty smile and they were taunting him to get closer and closer to her, to press his lips over hers. He was falling in temptation and it was _bad_. But Avalon was practically urging him to do it. It wasn't like she hadn't thought of kissing him before, but she wasn't brave enough. She could do anything but that, because doing that could ruin their friendship but if _he_ kissed her then it meant they were both on the same page.

Just as their lips were going to finally meet...

"Hey!" It was Rory who was coming back with Amy in hand, the former holding a purple, stuffed star in his free hand. "I'm done with this place!"

Soon as he was back to reality, the Doctor let go of Avalon and turned away. Avalon watched him, crestfallen, until Rory and Amy met them.

"I want to go!" Rory exclaimed. "I just got hit with a stupid stuffed star!" he waved the stuffed star above his head.

"Hey! My star!" Avalon snatched it from him and gave it a squeeze. "It's scented grape!"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you can keep it. I'm actually kind of tired too, can we go?"

"Yes of course," the Doctor answered without even glancing at Avalon for her opinion. He felt the quicker they left the festival, the more control he would have over himself. "I'll go get the Sapling and we can go."

Avalon watched after him again but this time Amy noticed her crestfallen gaze. "You alright?" she asked. "Did something happen?"

"...no, I guess not," Avalon squeezed her star tightly between her arms. "It probably won't," she added in a whisper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yall ready? Because now we're getting to the gangers and a whole wad of trouble! What are your guesses of what's gonna happen?
> 
> And thanks to the reviewer! Hope you liked the new chapter!
> 
> P. S: I have created a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where I thought anyone might want to comment about a story or even just talk! I'll probably drop some aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	9. The Rebel Flesh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The travelers arrive at a factory despite the Doctor’s wishes for them to stay away. They meet doppelgangers and are thrown into war...

The Doctor was deep into work when the Sapling popped into the console. Even then, the Doctor didn't notice him straightaway. There was something on the monitor that he was focused on so when the Sapling finally called his name, he actually jumped in surprise.

"Sapling! Don't do that!"

"Sorry," the child apologized but soon caught sight of what was on the screen. "Is Mother having a baby?"

"What - no!" the Doctor's eyes widened and he quickly moved to turn off the screen but the Sapling extended his branch hand to block the keyboard. "Young man, remove that hand right now!"

The Sapling did no such thing except come closer to the monitor himself. The screen was divided into two parts: one showing a pregnancy test that flipped between 'positive' and 'negative' constantly, and the other showing a record of his mother, Avalon. "Is Mother the one having the baby?" he asked again.

" _No_ , and I would appreciate if you didn't ask Avalon that question," the Doctor sighed. He tried to pulling the Sapling's hand off the keyboard but it was no use. As of late, the Sapling had gained some new strength.

"But then who's the pregnancy test for?"

"You didn't get that from my mind?"

The Sapling shook his head. "No. Your memories are comprised mostly of your travels, your companions and Mother."

The Doctor's face fell flat but even then there was a clear blush on his face. "They are _not_ ," he argued as casually as possible.

"...she has her own category."

The Doctor's head snapped in the Sapling's direction. "No she doesn't." The Sapling cocked his head to the side, staring at the Doctor until he had to give up and look away.

"Okay, so many things about Mother don't make sense," the Sapling went on, having already made up his mind in regards to his parents' relationship. "Could it be the reason why Mother doesn't make sense is because of the crack in Amy's house?"

With another sigh, the Doctor shrugged. "I don't know. It's a possibility but I can't get anything conclusive until I actually _scan_ Avalon."

"So then why don't you?"

"Because I can't exactly ask to scan her without raising suspicions."

"Then why don't you use your sonic when she's not looking?"

"Because she'll kill me when she catches me, because she'll _definitely_ catch me some way. And..." the Doctor shook his head, "I don't feel right about invading her privacy like that. Everyone should get the chance to decide whether or not they want to learn about themselves." And Avalon had made it clear that she had no interest in learning about her true background."

"So why are you worrying about her suddenly?" the Sapling finally removed his hand from the keyboard, letting the Doctor finally turn off the monitor in case anyone else popped in unannounced. He'd only been pulling up Avalon's known profile from her New Earth medical records.

It was just the ordinary things he already knew, no mentions of her brain though. He always wondered what it was that made Avalon's mind so different from everyone else's. How could Avalon remember things that no one else could? Avalon knew that she was missing pieces of her life after the cracks had taken Lena and Rory, but Amy didn't remember such things. There was _something_ in Avalon's brain that was wired differently to give her those unique abilities, but _what_?

It scared him that it was for that reason - that one wire - that somebody was coming for Avalon. The letter that Avalon received warning her to stay with him because people were coming for her always hung over the Doctor's head. Why would anyone want to come for Avalon in such a threatening way? _The wire_. He was sure of it. The part of her brain that was wired differently was the part that somebody had to want.

Well, over his dead body would he let that happen. _Nobody_ would touch Avalon as long as he was around.

"Father?" the Sapling called gently to the Doctor, even touching his arm when there was no response. "It's because of that pregnancy test, yes? If it's not Mother's test, then it must be Amy's and if it's Amy's then that means something is malfunctioning...or you think that somebody has gotten to Amy, and that somebody is coming for Mother next."

The Doctor stared at his tree child for a long while with a sense of pride that'd the Sapling had figured out his recent thoughts. At the same time, it was a bit alleviating to finally be able to talk to someone about it. For months now, the Doctor had kept the scan on Amy going and going. He'd kept the secret that somebody had breached the TARDIS and possibly gotten to Amy. It would take a toll on anybody, but the Doctor didn't have the luxury of being 'anybody'. He had to focus on the important part: keeping everyone safe. But now there was the Sapling, sharing a good portion of his mind. He understood exactly what was going on and would keep it all a secret with him.

"Sapling, how's about you and I take a trip in a bit? We'll just drop off the others somewhere else first."

The Sapling nodded. "Of course. Is it to help Mother and Amy?"

"Always," the Doctor smiled.

~ 0 ~

Avalon slipped on her white, jean jacket over her purple blouse and grabbed her journal off her desk, stuffing it into her bag, then left her room. She'd written quite a lot today and felt like it was time to give her head some rest. She entered the console room in time to hear Rory making a fabulous comeback to an insult from Amy.

"You're — _red_."

Avalon covered her laugh behind a hand. However, she dropped it when she realized the Sapling was staring oddly at her by the console. "Sapling?"

"No, you definitely don't have a baby in there," he suddenly said and it was then that Avalon realized he'd been staring at her _stomach._

"What!?" she shrieked and wrapped her arms around her stomach.

The Doctor's eyes widened in horror. He scrambled around the console to yank the Sapling back. "I thought we agreed on this!"

The Sapling nodded innocently. "Yes, but I just wanted to know if it was a surprise or not. Mother might have been having a baby and I would be a big brother!"

" _What_ did he just say?" Avalon had made her way to the console, eyes now harboring a growing anger. "Did he just think I was having a _baby!?" S_ he spun the Sapling around. " _Why_ would you think that? Have I finally overeaten? Is that it? Or who is spreading such a nasty rumor? I _will_ shoot them!"

It was the Doctor's turn to pull her away. "Hey, I would appreciate it if you didn't speak about shooting people around the child."

"I just want to know where that rumor came from," Avalon folded her arms, her eyebrows furrowing together. "I don't quite care for it."

"Maybe it's the all the cake you've had recently," Amy called from her playing spot with Rory, even throwing Avalon a smirk.

"Oh shut up!" Avalon let her arms drop. "You ate just as much cake as I did. Marie Antoinette sure knows how to party."

"Let's just forget about all that," the Doctor suggested, rather urgently. "Who wants fish 'n' chips?"

"Please," Avalon scoffed. "After what the Sapling just told me, I am switching my diet up a bit."

"Ava, you're fine," Rory called after missing yet another dart.

"Alright, alright, forget fish 'n' chips for you then," the Doctor suddenly said, turning Avalon to the controls. "Here's an idea, how's about you surprise your old friend, Zelda, with a visit? Say New York in the 20s? That sounds great, doesn't it?"

Avalon turned her head at him, naturally suspicious about his insistence on getting her out, along with Amy and Rory. "What are you up to, fairy-tale man?"

"Me? Nothing," the Doctor shook his head. "Just ideas of mine! I have a lot of them! Big head and all."

"No, she's right," Amy stopped the dart game. "You're up to something. What is it?"

"Nothing," the Doctor raised his hands in defense. "I just...have things to do."

"What things?" asked Rory, sounding almost amused by the fact.

"Things...involving other...things."

Avalon raised an eyebrow and glanced back at the others, Amy understanding there was something the Doctor was hiding from them, "Well, we'll stay with you. We'll do the other things," Amy said.

"Yeah," Avalon agreed. "Hey, maybe we can visit Zelda all together instead. Of course we'll have to drop off the tree child at home considering the prohibition and whatnot."

"But the not the fact he's a tree?" Rory made a face behind her but was promptly whacked by Amy.

"No, he's probably right," the Sapling agreed. He easily accepted the fact that not everybody was like him and would therefore be a little reluctant about him. It was fine. He didn't really mind.

"Listen, Fairy Tale Man," Avalon raised a finger in the air to get the Doctor's attention, "Whatever you're up to, I personally, would like to be a part of it. Actually, I really don't care. It's just the fact you're trying to hide something from us that makes me want to care."

"Yeah, that's pretty much it," Amy had to agree.

The klaxon blared just as the TARDIS buckled unexpectedly. All arguments ceased in that moment. Rory took hold of the rail while Amy clung to the console and Avalon nearly fell forwards if the Sapling hadn't extended one of its branch arms to catch her.

"Thanks!" Avalon laughed despite the continuous jolts.

"Solar Tsunami. Came directly from your sun. A tidal wave of radiation," the Doctor realized as he tried working the controls, "Big, big, big!"

"You don't say!" Avalon shouted in the midst of it, yelping when she lost her journal with the shakes, "No! Sapling, get that!"

"Ohh, Doctor, my tummy's going funny," Rory put a hand over his stomach with a face.

"Well, the gyros are dissipated. Target-tracking is out!" the Doctor tried a lever nearby to no avail, "Assume the position!"

"Sapling! My journal!" Avalon continued and since the Sapling wouldn't move, she did. She wrestled out of his grip and stumbled to reach the journal that kept moving away.

Amy sat in one of the chairs with her hands over her head, Rory knelt on the floor and covered his head as well...and Avalon...well...

"Ava! Forget about the stupid journal!" the Doctor scolded her and tried getting to her. He managed to snag her arm and at least to hold her until the TARDIS stopped.

"Textbook landing," Avalon observed with blinking eyes, "I don't like it..." she gently pushed the Doctor off her so she could move to get her journal off the floor, "And it's _not_ stupid," she shot him a playful glare.

"That's not what I meant," the Doctor tried to mend his earlier, in-the-moment, words, "I just meant that a journal, as close and precious it might be to you, is not nearly as important as you."

"Still," Avalon found nothing more to say and so stuck with stubborness and turned away.

The Doctor knew she'd lost and moved on with the others. He headed for the doors and stepped out to see a small island, specifically the one he'd been planning to visit...on his own, or with the Sapling anyways. Still, as the others started coming out, he had to improvise and make it an accident, "Behold! A cockerel. Love a cockerel. And, underneath, a monastery, 13th-century."

"Oh, we've gone all medieval," Avalon remarked with a bit of a smile, "What lays ahead, eh?" she asked excitedly.

"Mm, sorry Ava, doesn't sound like it," Rory looked around trying to find the source of a certain noise he was hearing.

"Why not?" Avalon turned to him, a bit disappointed. They'd yet to visit the Medieval period and she was frankly considering bugging the Doctor until he took them.

"Maybe we can start with the fact there's a tree child with us?" Amy pointed a thumb at the Sapling who chuckled and waved a hand.

"I can hear Dusty Springfield," Rory pointed up and stayed quiet to let the others hear the song 'You Don't have to Say You Love Me'."

"Aw," Avalon frowned and crossed her arms.

The Doctor led the group towards a stairway but stopped at the sight of an expose pipe on the ground, "These fissures are new. The solar Tsunami sent out a huge wave of gamma particles. This was caused by a magnetic quake that occurred just before the wave hit."

"Well, the monastery's standing," Amy gestured to the building.

The Doctor took out a snow globe from his jacket's pocket and shook it, staring at it for a moment, "Yeah, for now..." he mumbled and looked back at the others, surprised to see Avalon staring at him, "What?"

"...you just...you just carry a random snow globe?" she tilted her head.

"Uh, yes?"

She shook her head, "You will never cease to surprise me," she concluded and moved over to where Rory stood overlooking something.

The Doctor put away the globe with a smirk at her words, "Well..."

Amy raised an eyebrow, "Try to be a little less obvious," she advised with a smirk of her own.

The Doctor made a face but didn't give a response. Perhaps...she was a bit right. He'd been really working on it but he didn't seem to be getting any better at it. In fact, his feelings seemed to be heightened ever since the Fantasy Fest. The fact he wasn't able to kiss Avalon made things worse for him. Now every time he saw her, that's all he wanted to do. He'd think he would have more self control but _no_...he totally did not.

"Rory, don't touch that!" the very Avalon herself cut through the Doctor's thoughts with her frantic shout. He turned around to see Rory nearing the pipe they'd come across.

"I was only looking," Rory defended himself weakly, "How do you know it's dangerous?"

"Um, maybe it's from the fact there's a sign reading _'Danger corrosive',"_ Avalon crossed her arms and nodded over to the sign above the pipe, "Just a supposition."

The Doctor smiled of amusement and headed over to them, taking out the sonic and using it on the pipe, "Supply pipe," he concluded, "Ceramic inner lining. Something corrosive. They're pumping something nasty off this island, to the mainland."

"And that would be?" Avalon looked at him.

"No idea...let's go satisfy your rabid curiosity," he tapped her nose and went to climb the wooden stairs. There he went again!

Avalon made a face as she turned to the stairs, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's not just _my_ curiosity we're satisfying!" she called as she went after him.

"I want to go see too!" the Sapling chased after them, completing the trio much to Amy's amusement. She laughed and pulled a much less happy Rory with her.

They walked into an open part of the building where it seemed to be inhabitable. Still, the only the thing they heard was Dusty Springfield over a speaker.

"So, where are these Dusty Springfield-loving monks, then?" Amy had to ask after five minutes of nothing but walls and music.

The Doctor was using the sonic to scan as they went by and thus was too focused to hear Amy's question, "I think we're here. This is it," he mumbled.

"Doctor, what are you talking about? We've never been here before," Rory pointed out but was also ignored as the alien climbed another set of steps.

"We came here by accident!" Avalon called and managed to break through the concentration of his, "...right?"

"Accident?" the Doctor repeated while he turned to them, "Yes, I know. Accident."

"Why do I get the feeling you're not being truthful?"

"The TARDIS was the one who took us here," the Sapling chimed in for the sake of his father's well being. It seemed to alleviate some of the suspicions for now.

Thankfully, an alarm started blaring and gave way for more distractions. " _Intruder alert. Intruder alert_."

The Doctor urgently hurried back to the trio. "There are people coming. Well, almost."

"Almost coming?" Amy frowned.

"Almost people," he murmured and headed off with Amy behind him.

"I think we should probably go," Rory began to say as Avalon and the Sapling moved for the stairs.

"I think that boat's sailed, Rory," she looked back, "Now c'mon!"

"I'm telling you, when something runs towards you, it's never for a nice reason!"

"Duh, that's why I ran _away_ from the police," Avalon laughed as she came back for him, "But this is different, much more fun!" she pulled him and the Sapling up the stairs to catch up with the Doctor and Amy.

~ 0 ~

The group burst into a circular room with large windows and human-shaped harnesses set up on each alcove, all currently filled with unconscious people in orange jumpsuits.

"What are all these harnesses for?" Amy gasped at the sight, slightly freaked out by it.

"I'm gonna go with the almost people," Avalon shrugged, 'Whatever that means," she shot the Doctor an expectant look, waiting for him to explain.

The Sapling curiously looked at one harness and then the next. "This reminds me of one of Mother's favorite books. Frankenstein?"

"Oh, yeah!" Avalon snapped her fingers at him. "You're so right!"

"What are they, prisoners?" Rory stepped towards the harnesses, "Or are they meditating, or what?"

"Well, at the moment, they fall into the "or what" category," the Doctor answered but he seemed more distracted now. He was trying to scan as much as he could with his eyes before they were-

"Halt and remain calm."

The Doctor inwardly groaned. He couldn't have had more time? Just a few more seconds? He could do a lot with a few seconds. "Well, we've halted. How are we all doing on the "calm" front?"

Suddenly, three of the factory workers, two men and a woman entered the room, the two men with weapons aimed at the group.

"Don't...Move!" one of them, Jimmy, warned as he stepped up.

The second man, Buzzer, gently pushed the woman with them behind, "Stay back, Jen. We don't know who they are."

Jennifer didn't see any visible harm and so pushed her way through the two men, "So let's ask them. Who the hell are you? And what is that?" her eyes lingered on the Sapling behind Avalon.

"That's my son so watch it," the ginger didn't hesitate to snap. The Sapling gazed up at her with a beaming smile. It wasn't that long ago that his Mother was hesitant to accept him. Now she was defending him (even when he was sure he could hurt them far worse than they could hurt him).

"I'm the Doctor and this is, Avalon, Amy and Rory," the Doctor also stepped forwards, a bit more in front of Avalon and the Sapling. "And you heard her, that's our son, Sapling. Best watch it. But really, it's all very nice, isn't it?"

"More like deranged," Amy breathed as she realized the same three workers were the same ones up on the harnesses, "What the hell is going on?" she looked between the two groups, "I'm gonna go ahead and say these are not identical twins!"

Behind the travelers came another man and woman, the woman looking displeased with the interruption the travelers were causing, "This is an Alpha-grade industrial facility. Unless you work for the military or for Morpeth Jetson, you are in big trouble."

The Doctor spun around with the psychic paper in hand, "Actually, _you're_ in big trouble."

The woman, Cleaves, took a look at the paper in front of her and raised her eyebrows, "Meteorological department, since when?"

"Since you were hit by a solar wave."

"Which we survived."

" _Just_ , by the look of it. And there's a bigger one on the way."

"Which we'll also survive. Dicken, scan for bugs," Cleaves gestured for the man beside her to go up to the travelers.

Dicken held up a scanner to them as he moved forwards, "Backs against the wall. Now."

Shifty, the group moved back up to the wall to be scanned, "You're not a monastery," Avalon spat at them, "This is no where near one. You're more like an army!"

"You're an army?" Rory blinked at the workers.

"No, love, we're contractors and you're trespassers," Cleaves laid the truth to them bluntly.

"It's okay, boss," Dicken finished scanning and moved back with the other workers.

"All right, weatherman, your I.D. checks out," Cleaves gave the Doctor back the psychic paper, "If there's another solar storm, what are you going to do about it, hand out sunblock?"

"Ha ha ha ha," the Doctor mocked a laugh, "I need to see your critical systems."

"Which one?"

The Doctor's smile vanished into thin air as he stepped closer to the woman, "You know which one."

~ 0 ~

Cleaves led the group into the Flesh room, unbeknownst to the group (save the Doctor) what the room's purpose was actually for. At the end of the room was a raised platform which had a vat over it, the vat holding a bright colored, gooey white liquid.

"And there you are," the Doctor mumbled as he went up to the vat and peered down. The Sapling hurried after him, knowing well this is what the Doctor wanted to see from the beginning.

"Meet the government's worst-kept secret — the flesh," Cleaves gestured for the remaining humans to come closer, "It's fully programmable matter. In fact, it's even learning to replicate itself at the cellular level."

"Isn't that bad?" Avalon suddenly asked, garnering the looks of everyone, even the Doctor, "Sorry," she made a face.

Cleaves didn't look very pleased of her question and in fact thought the ginger had made some clueless question, "Okay. Once a reading's been taken, we can manipulate its molecular structure into anything, replicate a living organism, down to the hairs on its chinny-chin-chin. Even clothes, and everything's identical — eyes, voice."

Avalon caught the condescending tone and frowned, "I'm not stupid," she snapped, "I just meant that if you said it's _learning_ to replicate itself it could perhaps go a bit haywire on you and get a mind of its own."

"Don't make comments about a subject you don't know of," Cleaves shook her head.

"Mother's smart," snapped the Sapling, his wooden face scrunching up in anger on behalf of his mother.

"And she could be right," the Doctor came into the conversation as he turned to Cleaves. "Just like you said, you can replicate anything, and that would include the mind and the soul."

"Don't be fooled, Doctor," Cleaves almost laughed at the absurdity. "It acts like life, but it still needs to be controlled by us from those harnesses you saw."

"Wait, whoa-oa-oa, hold it. So... You're flesh _now_?" Rory's mind thought back to the harnesses they saw earlier.

"I'm lying in a harness back in that chamber. We all are, except Jennifer, here," Cleaves gestured to the smaller woman by her, "Don't be scared. This thing? Just like operating a forklift truck."

"You said it could grow. Only living things grow," the Doctor pointed out.

"Moss grows. It's no more than that. This acid is so dangerous, we were losing a worker every week. So now, we mine the acid, using these doppelgangers, or "gangers." If these bodies get burnt or fall in the acid..."

"Well that can't be good for the flesh people," Rory made a horrified face.

"Well, the nerve endings automatically cut off, like airbags being discharged, except we wake up and get a new ganger," Jennifer tried to explain but Rory didn't seem to like it much.

"You get used to it," Jimmy shrugged.

"Jennifer, I want you in your ganger," Cleaves ordered, "Get back to the harness."

Buzzer looked over to where the Doctor was using the sonic on the Flesh, "Hang on. What's he up to? What are you up to, pal?"

"Doctor?" Avalon frowned as he struggled to move his arm away the vat. The Sapling immediately moved to help the Doctor. He grabbed his father's arm and helped yank it away, but it still took some effort from both of them combined.

"Sorry, did the liquid just have a fight with the Sapling?" Amy whisper-hissed at Rory who, with wide eyes, nodded silently. "How _strong_ must it be for that to happen?"

The Doctor looked at his hand, truly startled for a second there. "Strange. It was like, for a moment there, it was scanning _me_."

Avalon looked at Cleaves with a smirk, "Like it had a mind of its own..."

Cleaves rolled her eyes and moved up to the vat where the Doctor was reaching for the liquid with his bare hand, nearly touching it, again, "Doctor," Cleaves sighed in irritation. The man seemed not to understand the rules.

"Ahh!" once again, the Doctor had no control and so his hand shook with the struggle of taking it away.

"Get back, Doctor. Leave it alone!"

"Ahh! Ah! Ah! Gah!" he tore his hand from the vat with a heavy breath, "I understand!"

"Doctor, are you all right?" Avalon asked, though doubted it just by looking at him.

"Incredible. You have no idea. No idea. I mean, I felt it in my mind. I reached out to it and it, to me."

"Don't fiddle with the money, Doctor," Cleaves scolded as she looked down at the Flesh in case there was something else that was going wrong.

"You should listen to Avalon," the Doctor looked stunned as he kept staring at the Flesh, "It's alive, _so_ alive. You're piling your lives, your personalities, directly into it," when lightning crashed outside he took out the globe again and shook it...just as the ground itself shook, "It's the solar storm. The first waves come in pairs — pre-shock and full shock — it's close."

"Buzz, have we got anything from the mainland yet?" Cleaves looked over to the man, not very concerned like the Doctor was.

"No, the comms are still too jammed with radiation."

"Okay, then we'll keep pumping acid until the mainland says stop," Cleaves resolved and moved over to the tub as it started filling with Flesh that was soon to be a ganger Jennifer, "Now, why don't you stand back and let us impress you."

"What? You're going to keep doing that?" Avalon blinked, "You're not gonna listen?"

Cleaves shrugged and looked down at the tub along with everyone else as a face began forming in the Flesh. It didn't take long before a new Jennifer sprung upright from the tub, the Flesh all gone.

"Well, I can see why you keep it in a church," the Doctor watched Buzzer help Jennifer out of the tub, "The miracle of life."

"No need to get poncey," Buzzer scoffed, "It's just gunge."

"Guys, we need to get to work," Cleaves reminded and eyed them all until they started moving.

"Okay, everybody. Let's crack on," Jimmy helped Jennifer out of the tub.

"Did I mention the solar storm?" the Doctor wondered if he just still had that face that no one listened to, "You need to get out of here."

"Well, where do you want us to go?" Jimmy challenged, "We're on a tiny island."

"Well, I can get you all off it."

"Don't be ridiculous," Cleaves cut in, irritated the Doctor was trying to sway her workers from their job, "We've got a job to do."

"It's coming," the Doctor warned just as an alarm rang off.

"That's the alarm," Jennifer looked up.

"How do you get power?" the Doctor asked.

"We're solar and we use a solar router. The weather vane," Cleaves pointed up.

"Big problem."

"Boss, maybe if the storm comes back, we should get underground," Jimmy started falter with the alarm, "The factory's seen better days. The acid pipes might not withstand another hit."

"We have 200 tons of acid to pump out. We fall behind, we stay another rotation. Anyone want that?" Cleaves looked around, waiting to see if an answer ever came up, knowing it really wouldn't.

"Please," the Doctor grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to the side, "You are making a massive mistake here. You're right at the crossroads of it. Don't turn the wrong way. If you don't — if you don't — prepare for this storm, you are all in terrible danger, understand?"

"My factory, my rules," Cleaves shrugged casually and went off.

"I need to check the progress of the storm," he gave up with the woman for the moment and turned to the rest of the workers, "Monitoring station," he saw Jennifer hesitating to answer and snapped his fingers again, "Monitoring station!"

"She's not a dog," Avalon scolded him and looked at poor Jennifer who looked terrified beyond her wits, "Would you please just tell him the bloody answer?"

"Um, three lefts...a right...and a left," Jennifer decided to answer, "Third door on your left."

"There, you see? I'm such a people person," Avalon shot her friends a smirk as she headed for the exit.

"Oh," Amy scoffed, "This coming from the teenager who punched a girl simply because she refused to give you an application," she went after the other ginger.

" _That_ was all Katie's fault, she was being a bi-"

_"Ava,"_ Rory cut her off with a scolding tone and even look, despite Avalon not daring to look back at him, "Language. Your tree son?"

Avalon's eyes flickered to the Sapling. "It's not like he hasn't seen my mind already." The Sapling giggled in confirmation.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor brought the group into the control room and went to have a look. As he did, though, the ground shook and even worse than before.

"Can we leave?" Avalon had to ask as she stumbled against the wall, "It's not our fault people are being stupid. I'd rather not die from an earthquake! And I'd rather the Sapling not go down with us too!"

"The wave's disturbing the earth's magnetic field. There is going to be the mother and father of all power surges," the Doctor observed, giving Avalon a look for her words and silently told her, her answer, "You see this weather vane, the cock-a-doodle-doo? It's a solar router, feeding the whole factory with solar power. When that wave hits, kaboom," he headed for the doorway, "I've got to get to that cockerel before all hell breaks loose," he paused with a laugh and looked back, "I never thought I'd have to say that again. Ah. Amy, breathe."

"Yeah! I mean, thanks, I'll try," Amy looked at the others with a face of confusion. But the Doctor was always saying irrelevant things like that, so it was discarded.

"We're not just gonna let him go out there on his own, are we?" Avalon poked her head out the doorway, "I mean, he can get hurt, or worse, die! We have to-"

She'd stepped out by one foot and Rory had clung a hand to her arm, stopping her altogether, "You are not going after him," he declared earnestly, his facial expressions telling her exactly what he'd just said.

"I can go," the Sapling said but then Amy grabbed onto his arm.

"Rory," Avalon misunderstood his reasons as she tried shaking him off, "Let go, Rory!"

"Ava, you're not going anywhere!" Rory managed to pull her inside the room.

"Amy?" Avalon glanced at the second ginger for some help.

"Nope, that's too dangerous," Amy gave a stern look at the Sapling, the child soon nodding his head in agreement. "We'll just get in the way."

Avalon groaned. "I swear, sometimes you act like my parents and not my friends!"

"It's not like that, Ava, I promise," Rory sighed. "I just think sometimes you forget that...well, we're all a bit weaker than the Doctor. We're down here." Avalon shook her head. "Avalon, I'm sorry but I'm scared that you're forgetting that to keep up with the Doctor. That's how some people have gotten hurt around him."

"So _what_?" Avalon snapped. "I'd rather get hurt than never do anything at all." And perhaps she was running to 'keep up', but she liked the feeling of being right next to the Doctor, even if it didn't mean the same for _him_.

~ 0 ~

When the final blow came, it knocked everyone out in the building. Even the poor Sapling had gone down next to his mother. None of them really knew how long they were out.

Groaning, Rory turned his head for Amy, "Oh. For want of a better word — oww!"

"You're telling me!" came Avalon's voice on his other side, following by some rather harsh jabs at his side, "Get off my _hand_!" she cried in terrible pain, making the brunette shoot right up, "You broke my hand!" Avalon whimpered as she also sat up, hearing the snickering from Amy, "Shut up, Pond," she spat.

"Oh, Mother, are you alright?" the Sapling scooted to Avalon's side while Rory examined her hand. "Does it hurt a lot?"

"Sorry, Ava," Rory apologized. "It's just sprained, nothing to worry about. We'll get it wrapped in something, hopefully ice."

With that, the group ran back for the harness room since they remembered the gangers refused to stop working. Therefore, the real humans must have still be in the harnesses. Sure enough, when they entered the room, they found them helping each other off the harnesses.

"I feel like I've been toasted," Buzzer groaned as he stretched his arms out.

"What the hell happened?" Jimmy eyed the incoming travelers with suspicion.

"The Tsunami happened," Avalon rolled her eyes, "And you're hurt, join the club," she held her bad hand to her chest to keep herself from getting hurt.

"Well, it feels like the national grid's running through my bones, but, apart from that..."

"I hope the meter's not bust. I still want to get paid," Buzzer muttered.

"Why-y-y?" they suddenly heard the voice of Jennifer who was at the corner of the room with her hands on her head.

"Jennifer!" Rory turned to her, "Jennifer? Hi," he quickly rushed over.

"It hurt so much," she whimpered.

Rory took her into a hug, "Hey, hey, it's okay, it's over."

"I couldn't get out of my harness."

"Shh-shh-shh."

"I thought I was going to die," Jennifer whimpered, almost snuggling closer to Rory, something that didn't go unnoticed by Amy.

"Welcome to my world," Rory gave a small chuckle, glancing back at his wife to see her giving him a look.

Avalon looked between them with a hint of a smirk on her lips. It wasn't often where Amy grew jealous over Rory, the man hardly ever turned to see another woman. He, unlike her, was not at all flirty. It was a rare sight to see indeed!

"Father, look!" the Sapling's call pulled Avalon out of her thoughts to see that the Doctor had returned from wherever the hell he'd gone to, along with Cleaves. "You said the harnesses had the real people...so where are the gangers?"

"Don't worry, when the link shuts down, the gangers return to pure flesh," Cleaves looked around the room for any damage, "Now, the storm's left us with acid leaks all over, so we need to contact the mainland. They can have a rescue shuttle out here in no time."

As soon as she'd spoken, the same record as before started playing over the speakers, prompting everyone to shift and look around. No one seemed more confused than Jimmy, though, as that was his record playing, "That's my record. Who's playing my record?"

"Your gangers. They've gone walkabout..." the Doctor looked around, stunned at the fact and yet awed by it.

"No, it's impossible. They're not active..." Cleaves shook her head, "Cars don't fly themselves, cranes don't lift themselves, and gangers don't..."

"I told you that Flesh could get a mind of its own," Avalon reminded, "What if the storm's given exactly what they needed?"

Cleaves refused to believe it, but as the record continued to play...she became more shifty.

~ 0 ~

The group entered the dinning hall where they'd traced back the record and sure enough it was playing on a the turntable.

"No way," Buzzer was the first to speak.

"I don't — I don't believe this," Cleaves continued to say.

"Look, there's no point in denying what's so clearly true," Avalon sighed as she walked up to the table. She reached with her good hand to stop the record player, "The gangers are alive, but how though?"

"It would seem the storm has animated them," the Doctor gave the explanation as he moved to the table as well but sat down on the chair across her.

"What? Like Frankenstein's monster?" she raised an eyebrow, already loving the idea. "Sapling my dear, I think I know what movie we're watching tonight..."

The Sapling beamed. Each night they watched a new movie, all of them being the ones that his mother loved. Because if she loved them, then he would too! And sometimes it wasn't just him and his mother, sometimes aunt Amy and uncle Rory were there too. It was always more fun like that, but the Sapling loved it most when it was just him, his mother and his father together. They would all fit in one couch and they would watch the movie. His father would make some remark, eventually, that would make his mother remark back until they started bickering over it. Even though he was a child, the Sapling was fully aware that his parents _really_ liked each other. They could almost be like aunt Amy and uncle Rory and be married! That would be so cool.

"They've ransacked everything," Cleaves' was exasperated to find the room almost empty of their possessions.

"Not ransacked, searched," the Doctor clarified.

"But through our stuff?"

" _Their_ stuff."

"Searching for what?" Jimmy asked.

"Confirmation. They need to know their memories are real," the Doctor sighed. This is where things would get very complicated.

"Oh, so they've got flaming memories now," Buzzer scoffed, not too keen of the idea someone running around with _his_ memories.

"They feel compelled to connect to their lives, yeah," the Doctor shrugged, wondering why it wasn't obvious.

"Their _stolen_ lives," Cleaves snapped.

"No, bequeathed," the Doctor pointed at her, "You gave them this. You poured in your personalities, emotions, traits, memories, secrets — everything. You gave them your lives. Human lives are amazing. Are you surprised they walked off with them?"

"Isle of Sheppey," Buzzer suddenly shared, "Ganger got an electric shock, toddled off, killed his operator, right there in his harness. I've seen the photos. This bloke's ear was —"

"Even if this has actually happened, they can't remain stable without us plumbed into them," Jimmy eyed his co-worker with horror, "Can they, boss?"

"I guess we'll find out," Cleaves resolved in the end to simply wait.

Rory was startled by the small the small gasp Jennifer gave, "Are you okay? Do you need some water?" he turned to her.

"I feel funny. I need the washroom," she hurried out the room.

"I'll come with you," Rory started going after her when Avalon gave him a call.

"Oi, Rory, what about my hand?" she gestured to her hand she'd managed to keep out of her way.

"What's wrong with it?" the Doctor asked in concern, and mildly surprise he'd missed that entirely.

"Just sprained it when _Rory_ fell on it," Avalon muttered, casting a playful glare at her best friend.

"I said I was sorry," Rory started coming back for her.

"It's alright, I got it," the Doctor stood up from his spot and moved around the table, "Go after Jennifer, make sure she's alright," he told Rory.

"It's just sprained, you guys, I don't need to be like baby cared for," Avalon looked between the two, "I just wanted someone to help me find something to wrap it in."

"I can look at it," the Doctor repeated for her, his words softer than the first time, "Trust me."

Avalon avoided his gaze by turning for Rory, "Go, poor Jennifer looked very scared." A reluctant Rory went ahead and left with Jennifer.

"So, what happened?" the Doctor sat Avalon down on a bigger table's bench-like seats, everyone else beginning to disband in the room while they waited for Rory and Jennifer to come back.

"Uncle Rory fell on it!" the Sapling happily explained as he came up beside them. "When the entire building shook like woooo!" he imitated the shaking with his entire body, making the parents laugh. The Sapling wiggled his way to his aunt Amy, still laughing to himself.

"Man is clumsy awake and asleep," Avalon rolled her eyes afterwards.

The Doctor chuckled, "Let's not insult someone who's not here to defend himself, yeah?"

"What could his defense possibly be?"

The Doctor just gave her a look and finally took her hand for an inspection. He was careful when his fingers applied pressure to her palm as she tended to wince or try to jerk it away from him, "Sorry," he said for the last one.

"It's okay, I forgive you...just like I hope you'll forgive me for when I slap you because that _hurts_!" she smacked his arm frantically, "Stop that!"

"First of all, _ow_ ," he shot her a small glare, "And second of all, yeah it's sprained. Nothing to worry about, though. Easy fix."

Avalon realized what he meant by those last words when she saw the recognizable golden glow, "N-no!" she snatched her hand and hissed at the sharp pain she felt.

"Ava," the Doctor frowned, surprised at her reaction, "It's fine, it'll-"

"I didn't understand what happened the first time but now I know, that energy of yours is _limited_ , and I will never allow you to waste it on me," Avalon firmly declared as she held her hand close to her again. "You do remember that I can heal myself, right?"

"Yes, but that is only for internal illnesses. That's literally why you never get the cold!" the Doctor exclaimed. The fact Avalon carried an entire curing system inside of her was still so fascinating. Descending from the people he had cured on New Earth gave her immunity to almost every type of disease known to man. She hardly had to use it anyone else, but even then the Doctor knew for a fact that she couldn't heal broken bones. That was still something that needed to heal the old fashion way.

But that's what _he_ was there for now. He'd keep her safe and healthy all the time if he could.

"It's not a waste, now let me help," the Doctor reached for her and had to quite literally yank her forwards.

"Fairy Tale Man, no," Avalon's softened as her hand was taken again.

"It wouldn't even take an ounce of energy, trust me," the Doctor assured. He kissed her forehead and enveloped her hand in between his, easily fixing her injury. He pressed his fingers to her palm and studied her for any wincing, "There we go, all better yeah?"

She nodded silently as she took her hand back, disappointed of what he'd done, "It was a waste," she mumbled.

"Ava," he reached to place a hand over her cheek, "Nothing about you is ever a waste," he smiled, "Ever," Avalon had to smile back and just hoped her blush wasn't too clear on her face.

~ 0 ~

After finding out that Cleaves was a ganger, things had turned for the worst...especially when they realized that Rory was with Jennifer who was also another ganger. It seemed like the gangers were rather aggressive due to their inability to shift from flesh to full formed humans along with their fear. They had to go find Rory in case ganger Jennifer was also in the same state as Cleaves had been in.

The Doctor, Avalon, Amy, the Sapling and Jimmy entered the washroom to find a giant hole in one of the stalls that also correlated with a crash hole in the sink mirror.

"Rory!" Amy called as she pushed open the other stall doors.

"Doctor, you said the gangers wouldn't be violent," Avalon recalled as she studied the cracked glass in the sink mirror.

"But I did say they were scared, and angry," he pointed out.

"And early technology, is what you said," Jimmy pointed, "You seem to know something about the flesh."

At that, both ginger companions turned to the Doctor, "Do you? Doctor?" they simultaneously asked him.

The Sapling sensed that once again people were close to figuring out the 'not so accidental trip', so he sought out to help his father. "Father knows everything. That's why people get annoyed." Unfortunately, it didn't seem to do much this time.

"You're no weatherman. Why are you really here?" Jimmy added, even more suspicious than before.

"I have to talk to them. I can fix this," the Doctor assured and went off.

"That was _so_ a way to change the topic," Avalon scoffed and went after him.

They went back through the tunnels but since the pipes were screwed up from the storm, they were bursting deadly steam and even letting loose acid on the ground.

The Doctor stopped the group from walking, "It is too dangerous out here with acid leaks!"

"We have to find Rory," Amy insisted, not about to let some acid get in the way.

"Yes, I'm going back to the TARDIS. Wait for me in the dining hall," he told both gingers, "I want us to keep together, okay? No more wandering off."

"And what about Rory?" Avalon crossed her arms, definitely already thinking of another direction they could take to find Rory while he left.

"Well, it would be safer to look for Rory and Jennifer with the TARDIS."

Jimmy had pulled out flares from a bax on the wall across, "Here we go. Distress flares."

"Exit?" the Doctor called.

"Keep going straight, can't miss it. But you're never going to get your vehicle in here."

"I'm a great parker," the Doctor remarked, quickly covering Avalon's mouth because he knew a comment like that would spark so many ideas from her, "Sapling, look after them and get back to the dinning hall - _Ow_!"

"C'mon Amy, Sapling, back to the dining hall," Avalon calmly went to the others' side, acting as if her teeth never sunk into any alien skin.

The Doctor grumbled under his breath as he went off. Amy shook her head at Avalon, "You're so mean," she remarked as they went off in a different direction.

"Tell him to quit covering my mouth," Avalon shrugged.

"Mother, you sure love to bite," the Sapling chuckled.

"We really need those acid suits. I've sent Buzzer and Dicken to get them," Jimmy called to the trio, still standing in his spot.

"Fine and dandy. We're just going to find my husband, so...cheers," Amy waved goodbye and walked away with Avalon and the Sapling.

~ 0 ~

After searching for some time more, the two ginger women and the Sapling came across a large wooden door at the end of the tunnel they'd been walking through.

"Rory? Rory," Avalon called whilst Amy opened the door.

As soon as Amy peered inside, she saw the eye-patch woman looking in on her through a panel. Without a word, she closed the panel and disappeared. Amy gasped and shut the door, making poor Avalon stumble back in the process.

"OW," Avalon hit her back for that one, "What the hell?"

"Amy! Ava!" Rory found the women from behind. "Sapling!"

"You're okay!" Amy said as soon as they'd turned around, "What happened?"

As she and the others went towards him, they discovered ganger Jennifer behind him. It made the trio stop and suddenly Avalon was in front of the Sapling again.

"She needs protecting," Rory declared as he put a hand on Jennifer's shoulder.

From another direction came Dicken and Buzzer, "Jen?"

"No, it's a ganger," Amy clarified, "Rory, listen —"

"No, you listen — nobody touches her!" Rory nearly shouted as he pointed at every last person against him.

"Rory, isn't that the woman responsible for the hole in the washroom stall?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, "And the crash of the sink mirror?"

"Ava, she needs to be protected," Rory reiterated.

Avalon raised an eyebrow and glanced at Amy, seeing she wasn't very happy. Avalon herself wasn't very keen on keeping a ganger around but she trusted Rory, and if he believed Jennifer to be worth it, then...so be it. "Fine, but keep her away from the Sapling until we know for sure she's on our side."

After returning to the dinning hall, Buzzer, Jimmy and Dicken were quick to put ganger Jennifer down on a chair to interrogate her. Rory refused to leave her side and so Amy stood across from him, leaving a rather shifty Avalon to stand to the side of them all. She didn't want to take any sides until she got all the information of humans and gangers. Plus, Rory seemed irritated in a way she'd never seen him before and frankly didn't want to make it worse.

"Where's Jen? What have you done with her?" Buzzer was questioning the ganger rather harshly.

"I haven't seen her. I swear," Jennifer raised her hands in defeat, "But, look, I'm her. I'm just like her. I'm real."

"You're a copy," Jimmy snapped, "You're just pretending to be like her."

"Well, I don't think she can _pretend_ to be a whole other person," the Sapling inched closer to Jennifer despite Avalon's reservations towards the woman. "Right?" Jennifer seemed weary of the child.

"Rory, c'mon, we don't really know anything about them yet-" Amy tried to say but Rory was still ready to argue with anyone who wanted to get rid of Jennifer.

"I know that she's afraid and she needs our help," Rory resolved and looked over to Avalon, "C'mon, Ava, you can't be against her, can you?"

"Jimmy, Buzzer, come on, you guys. We've worked together for two years," Jennifer tried to remind the two men.

"I work with Jennifer Lucas, not you," Buzzer declared.

"Let's not argue here," Avalon cut in between all of them, "This whole thing is an outright mess and honestly I'm horridly confused _but-_ ," she wagged a finger at the factory workers, "-I don't want to hear a single word out of any of you until-"

"Until the Doctor gets here," the alien interrupted her as he came into the room with the other gangers, "Hello."

"And where the hell have you been?" Avalon spun around, clearly irritated.

"What? No hello?" the Doctor tried to humor but the look on the ginger's look told him to move onto the point.

"All right, Doctor, you've brought us together — now what?" ganger Cleaves wondered.

"Before we do anything, I have one very important question — has anybody got a pair of shoes I could borrow?" the Doctor looked around while everyone realized he wasn't wearing his shoes anymore, "Size 10. Although I should warn you — I have very wide feet."

And so, after the Doctor was given a pair of factory brown boots, everyone got to business. The humans and their respective gangers stood in a file across from each other all with the exception of ganger Jennifer who stood by Rory. The Doctor sat on the edge of the dinning table with Avalon and Amy.

"The flesh was never merely moss. These are not copies," the Doctor made sure to leave clarified for the humans to understand, "The storm has hardwired them. They are becoming people."

Jimmy seemed to refuse such a statement, "With souls?"

"Rubbish," Dickens declared before sneezing, "Ah-choo!"

"Bless you," ganger Dickens said and noticed the look ganger Cleaves was giving him for that, "What?"

"We were all jelly, once. Little jelly eggs, sitting in goop," the Doctor tried to humor again.

"Okay, shut up," Avalon told him, making a gave due to his words.

"Is that how I came to be?" the Sapling, of course, had to ask in that moment.

Avalon shook her head and gave the Doctor a sharp look. "You want to take that one? Cos I'm not having _that_ talk."

The Doctor looked away almost immediately, his face rather flushed. "Alright, poor choice of words. I just meant that we are not talking about an accident that needs to be mopped up-" but he winced. "Okay, I need to get better at this. We are talking about sacred life. Do you understand? Now, the TARDIS is trapped in an acid pool. Once I can reach her, I can get you all off this island, humans and gangers, eh, how does that sound?"

"Can we get home for Adam's birthday?" Jimmy asked hopefully.

"What about me?" his ganger cut in, garnering everyone's attention, "He's my son, too."

"You? You really think that?"

"I feel it," ganger Jimmy nodded his head.

"Oh, so you were there when he was born, were you?"

"Yeah. I drank about 8 pints of tea and they told me I had a wee boy and I just burst out laughing. No idea why. I miss home. As much as you."

"Look, I'm not going to lie to you. It's a right odd mess, this," the Doctor cut in, "But, as you might say up north, "oh, well, I'll just go to t' foot of the stairs." Ha ha ha. Eh, bye-bye, gone."

"Seriously, stop it," Avalon shot him a look, "Humor is not your thing."

For once, the Doctor had no remark of defense against that one and so moved on, "Right. The first step is we get everyone together, then get everyone safe, then get everyone out of here."

"But we're still missing Jennifer and Cleaves," Amy reminded.

"I'll go and look for them," Jimmy headed for the doors.

"I'll give you a hand, if you like," ganger Jimmy offered as he went after him, "Cover more ground."

Jimmy seemed to like the idea and agreed, "Yeah. Okay. Thanks."

"This circus has gone on long enough!" Cleaves voice made everyone look back, the original Cleaves stood with a device aimed at them that cackled with electricity.

Everyone seemed to be in shock except for ganger Cleaves, "Oh, great. You see, that is just so typically me."

At that, Cleaves aimed the device on her ganger, "Doctor, tell _it_ to shut up."

"Why can I see this going horribly bad?" Avalon whispered to Amy after yanking the Sapling away from the scene.

"Please, no. No! No!" the Doctor stood off the table in a hurry.

"Circuit probe. Fires about, oh, 40,000 volts. It would kill any one of us, so I guess she'll work on gangers, just the same," Cleaves explained with certainty.

"It's interesting you refer to them as "it," but you call a glorified cattle prod a "she," the Doctor stopped to remark which did prove a very good point.

"When the real people are safely off this island, then I'll happily talk philosophy over a pint with you, Doctor."

"What are you going to do to them?" Amy dreaded to ask as the electricity cackled even louder.

"Sorry, they're monsters, mistakes. They have to be destroyed."

"Who died and made you the Queen?" Avalon asked in utter disgust. She herself wasn't very convinced with the gangers but at least they weren't the ones trying to kill someone at the moment.

"Give me the probe, Cleaves," The Doctor ordered seriously, his hand out for said device.

"We always have to take charge, don't we, Miranda? Even when we don't really know what the hell is going on," ganger Cleaves crossed her arms, still not the least surprised of what her original was trying to do.

Out of the nowhere, ganger Buzzer charged for Cleaves in an attempt to take the weapon but Cleaves was quicker and shot him three times. As the anger fell to the floor, the Doctor ran over to check him.

"He's dead," he declared a couple seconds later.

"We call it "decommissioned," Cleaves corrected and aimed the probe around in the air, terrifying ganger Jennifer.

"You stopped his heart. He had a heart! Aorta, valves — a real, human heart!" the Doctor angrily stood up, "And you stopped it."

"Jen?" Rory asked as the woman's eyes started changing into hard, cold eyes.

"What happened to Buzz will happen to us all, if we trust you," even her voice changed from meekness as she looked at the Doctor.

"Wait, wait. Just wait," the Doctor tried to stop her as she backed away from the group.

"No!" Rory angrily charged at Cleaves with more success as he pushed to the ground, able to take the probe from her. However, with that, the gangers quickly made an escape along with Jennifer, leaving the humans and travelers alone.

"You idiot!" Cleaves pushed Rory away and tried to stand.

"Wait!" the Doctor called to the other gangers but it was no use, they were already gone. Furiously, he turned around to Cleaves, "Look at what you've done, Cleaves."

But Cleaves seemed unaffected by the actions she'd taken, "If it's war, then it's war. You don't get it, Doctor. How can you? It's us and them now," she turned to her co-workers, "Us...and them," she eyed them sharply.

"Us and them," Dickens agreed and looked to the others for their answers.

"Us and them."

"Great, we're at war now," Avalon dropped her arms to her side with a loud groan, "And it's all your fault," she pointed at Cleaves angrily and turned away from the group.

"They were _monsters_ ," Cleaves tried to argue back but she'd never met a temperamental Avalon before.

" _No_ , they weren't," she spun around, "Everything was all fine until _you_ arrived. Now because you thought you knew best, _all_ of our lives are in danger. You didn't know what was best! You didn't! You couldn't have!"

Rory was going to go calm her, seeing how worked up she was, but the Doctor beat him to it. There was something more to Avalon's attitude and the Doctor knew it, especially when he heard her low mutters.

"I hate it when people are like that," she was saying as she fiddled with the button of her jacket.

"Mother," the Sapling inched closer to her side but she shook her head. He didn't need to be able to read her mind to know that she was no longer talking about the gangers. Something else was making her upset.

"Know it all's, think they know what's best..." Avalon mumbled to herself, but it wasn't as quiet she thought she was.

The Doctor's hearts broke watching her get more and more lost in her thoughts about her birth mother (and possibly father). Despite her efforts, she couldn't push away all her feelings about that case. "Avalon..." the Doctor cautiously neared her, but just feeling the graze of his fingers made her pull away.

"I'm sorry," Avalon took in a deep breath and plastered on the smile that would get things moving. "Selfish of me, really."

"No, it's really not," the Doctor leveled her look and tried encouraging her with his own smile for her. "I think, when this is all over, we should finally just talk about that."

"No," Avalon shook her head, fervently as if convincing herself she was right. "Besides, what's the point? No matter what I do or say..." she finally met his gaze but when she did, there was something meaningful in her eyes, something that didn't exactly pertain to their conversation topic, "...nothing ever works out for me. Even when I...have it right in front of me," she sourly smiled, "It just doesn't work out."

The Doctor swallowed hard as if he knew exactly what she meant. His bravery ended in that one moment. "Ava-"

But Avalon had already switched gears, and the way her facial expressions changed...it almost did look like a switch was moved. No longer did her eyes bear sadness or bitterness. She turned to the others who were anxiously waiting to hear about their next moves.

"Mother's not okay," the Sapling told the Doctor in a hushed tone. "What can we do?"

"More of what _I_ can do, I'm afraid," the Doctor said with a sigh.

The Sapling looked up at him, naturally curious about what he meant. "Why haven't you done it?"

"Because my dear Sapling...that would mean I fell into temptation and that can be a grave mistake that Avalon might pay for," the Doctor said with all the regret in the world. He watched Avalon make her way through the crowd, demanding for someone to come up with possible solutions. He smiled a bit - she always looked good commanding rooms.

~ 0 ~

It wasn't very difficult getting to the chapel (the only room where they had a chance at surviving the gangers' retaliation). The only thing that did make a trouble was the fact that Rory was hesitating in actually stepping into the chapel for safety. The factory co-workers had already gone inside the chapel but the travelers were debating.

"Rory," Avalon frowned as she studied her best friend in confusion. She couldn't understand why Rory was picking _this_ moment to be so indecisive. One would think he wanted to _survive_!

Rory winced when he heard Jennifer's scream and turned in the opposite direction. Jennifer looked terrified, he couldn't just leave her. But at the same time, Amy was growing frantic about things.

"Rory, c'mon!"

"Jen's out there. She's out there and she's on her own," he started heading down the tunnel.

"Well, if she's got any sense, then she's hiding," the Doctor called, "Rory!"

"Uncle Rory, you have to come this way for safety!" the Sapling waved his branch arms over his head, but Rory didn't look back.

"Rory come back," Avalon tried going after him but the Doctor pulled her back with him.

"You stay safe," Rory pointed at her then looked to Amy, "Keep safe," he said just as the gangers arrived through the other end of the tunnel. He glanced back then ran through a side corridor.

"There they are!" Cleaves called from the doorway.

"We have to get Rory back!" Avalon exclaimed but the Doctor grabbed her hand along with Amy's and brought them into the chapels. The Sapling was already ahead of them.

"What are you doing!?" Amy demanded as the workers slammed the door shut, the Doctor even using the sonic to add extra protection.

"Ava, Amy, they are not after him, they're after us," the Doctor tried to make them see that, hoping they'd calm down.

"Why? Why?" they heard a different voice from a dark corner in the room.

"Oh, there's someone here!" the Sapling turned in the direction of the noise, but it seemed too dark to identify him.

"Get back," the Doctor quickly turned around and yanked the Sapling away to take his place. "And you, show yourself!"

"Doctor!" Avalon called, looking between him and the door that was now being barricaded, "What about Rory!?"

"We have to go back!" Amy demanded but the Doctor practically waved them off, something that earned himself identical glares. Spooky, really.

"They're not after him," he repeated, "Show yourself!" he called to the other entity as he cautiously approached the corner, "Right now!"

"Doctor! We are trapped in here and Rory is out there, with them. Hello!" Amy shouted again. "We can't get to the TARDIS and we can't even leave the island."

"Correct, Pond. It's frightening, unexpected, frankly, a total, utter, splattering mess on the carpet, but I'm certain, 100% certain, that we can work this out," a different, yet completely familiar voice, answered her back and managed to freeze everyone in the room, including the Doctor himself, "Trust me. I'm the Doctor." A ganger of the Doctor, in the state of development, emerged from the dark to greet the group.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Okay I am _so_ excited to finally be getting to these episodes! Get ready because the angst is _coming_!

**P. S:** I have created a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	10. Reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two Doctors would usually mean things would get solved quicker, but not this time. The gangers and humans are raging war against each other and now it's a race to find the TARDIS and escape with their lives. On the side, Avalon is determined to get the only piece of honesty she can get right now and it can only come from the Doctor.

As soon as the ganger Doctor said spoken his first words to the group, he erupted into massive shouts of pain. "What's happening?" His words, his shouts, were all mixed up as if he was living through different moments. "I wonder if we'll get back. Yes, one day... Aaagh! I've reversed the polarity of the neutron flow!"

"What is he doing?" the Sapling cocked his head each time the ganger turned.

The Doctor tried helping the ganger but there was really nothing he could do at the moment, "'The Flesh is struggling to cope with our past regenerations. Hold on!"

"Don't you have like a billion of those?" Amy called in, making the Doctor momentarily pause to glare at her.

"No!"

"Would you like a jelly-baby?" the ganger Doctor questioned in his 4th incarnation's voice, "Why? Why!?"

"Why do they keep saying that?" Avalon suddenly asked, getting the glances of everyone, "I mean...that's what ganger Jennifer said too, remember Amy?" the second ginger had to agree with a nod, "What does it mean?"

"'Why' what?" the Doctor finally asked his ganger self, taking in Avalon's words and having to agree as well.

"Hello. I'm the Doctor," the ganger replied instead, using his 10th's self's voice, "No, let it go, we've moved on!"

"Oh!" Avalon snapped her fingers, suddenly beaming. "That's the one that went to New Earth!"

"Ava, not the time!" went the Doctor, but she mimicked his voice instead of agreeing.

"I'm never gonna meet him so I'll take what I can get!"

The Doctor's face might as well have stayed in a glare because it seemed like Avalon and Amy were taking turns making unnecessary comments.

"I've reversed the jelly-baby of the neutron flow. Would you like a..." the ganger grabbed the Doctor by the lapels, "Doctor...Doctor... I'm... I'm the... I can't."

"No, listen, hold on. Hold on!" the Doctor tried reassuring the ganger but was shoved away.

"No-o-o-o! Aaaagh!" the ganger showed his flesh-state face to the others.

"Doctor, we need you. Get over here," Amy called to the Doctor, taking cautious steps towards him with Avalon.

The ganger slowly stopped moving until he came to a complete stop. His hands fell from his head and came to adjust the bowtie around his neck. "Hello," he gave a wave with his hand.

"Hi!" the Sapling returned the gesture with a beam on his face.

"Cybermats," the Doctor crossed his arms and faced his ganger self. They really did look identical - it was really weird.

The ganger seemed to catch on and sighed, "Do we have time for this?"

"We make time. I'd like more proof that you're me. Cybermats?"

"Created by the kill by feeding off brainwaves."

Amy gave up trying to get the Doctor's attention and ran back to the door with the other factory workers. Avalon was a bit more awed by the situation but was nonetheless scared as well, so she hurried to the door.

"Don't you have guns somewhere?" was the first thing she asked the factory workers.

"Yeah, big guns would be good right now," Buzzer sucked some breath and nodded.

Jimmy was leaning against the door, a last resort to keep it shut against the gangers, "Why would we have guns? We're a factory. We _mine_."

"Get back!" Amy yelled as they heard a hissing sound along and saw smoke coming through the door.

"We are completely done for," Avalon declared as they all stepped back. She rolled her eyes at the conversation she was hearing from behind, "Are you two done yet?" she spun around to where the Doctors were, even Amy doing the same, "There's two of you yet still nothing gets done!"

"First of all," the Doctor headed for them and wagged a finger at Avalon. "Shut up!"

"Second of all," his ganger followed in suit with the same finger pointed at Avalon, "...still, shut up."

Avalon raised her eyebrows. Did they seriously think that because there were two of them they could win against her? Absolutely not. She folded her arms across her chest and smirked. "Two of you and you still can't come up with good comebacks. Truly sad. How many brains you got again?"

"Enough with the games," Amy sighed, "There's a problem that needs _solving_!"

"Breathe," was the Doctors' reply for her.

"What?"

"We have to get you off this island," the ganger Doctor looked at the not-so-well barricaded door.

"And the gangers too."

"Um, Doctor, I'm all for life, but the gangers are trying to kill us," Avalon pointed to the door where the acid could be clearly seen. She barred the Sapling from getting closer.

"They're scared, Ava, that's all," the Doctor assured.

"We're trapped in here," Amy also reminded.

"I don't think so. The Flesh Bowl is fed by cabling from above."

"But where are the earthing conduits?" the ganger Doctor asked.

"All this piping must go down into a tunnel or a shaft or something, yes? With us?" the Doctor headed for a large panel at the other end of the room, "Yowza!" he cheered as he removed the paneling to find a grate. "An escape rout."

Amy glanced at Avalon, mouthing 'Yowza' questioningly at her. Avalon made a face and shrugged, never understanding the Doctor most of the time.

"You know, I'm starting to get a sense of just how impressive it is to hang out with me," the Doctor smugly looked around the room.

"Do we tend to say "Yowza"?" his ganger genuinely wondered.

"Nope!" the Sapling turned around to answer. "Although you did used to say 'Allons-y' for some reason."

Avalon laughed and shot the two Doctors a look. "You did _what_!? Who did that?"

"I'd rather not answer," the Doctor turned his head away, intending on taking that secret to the grave. It was unfortunate that the Sapling did not agree.

"His last incarnation!"

"Sapling!" the Doctor frowned, feeling completely betrayed by the child.

"Ah, see, _that's_ the one we need to meet!" Avalon sighed in true content, which did make the Doctor be a little less upset. It was better to have her laughing, even if it was at him, than to have her crying.

Just as the entire group managed to get inside, the gangers broke through the door. As they reached the grate, they saw the group at the grate where the Doctor sonicked the locks.

~ 0 ~

The group hurried down the tunnels after getting out of the grate. There was acid everywhere and it was making it difficult to get across without being touched.

"The army will send a recon team," Buzzer said to them.

"We need to contact the mainland," Cleaves reminded him.

"What about Rory and Jen? They are both out there," Amy stressed as she looked around in case they were somewhere nearby. Unfortunately, they weren't that lucky.

"This is a like a labyrinth," Avalon sighed, already having given up looking around their immediate areas. She held the Sapling's hand in hers, tightly, but she wasn't sure who was more afraid at this point.

"I bet you lot have got a computer map," the Doctor looked at Cleaves questioningly.

"If we can get power running, we can scan for them," the woman agreed but couldn't say more as they all started violently coughing.

"Doctor, you said earlier to breathe," Amy covered her mouth.

"Very important, Pond. Breathe," he stood by his statement.

"Yeah, I'm struggling to."

"Acid interacting with the stone," the Doctor managed to explain.

"Creating an asphyxiant miasma," his ganger finished thankfully.

"In English?" Avalon raised am eyebrow.

"Chokey gas. Extra heavy. If we can get above it..."

"The evac tower," Cleaves resolved and started leading the way, "This way!"

They entered a room full of machinery which was they assumed was the control room. As the Doctors got straight to work, the humans took a moment to end their cough.

"Ohh! I think I coughed so hard, I pulled a muscle or something," Amy remarked as she struggled to stand straight.

A bell chimed in the distance which made Jimmy sober up rather quick, "It's midnight. It's Adam's birthday. My son's five. Happy birthday, bud."

"Best present for him would be getting home," Avalon sighed and put a hand on her back as she stood correctly, "How we doing over there?" she called to the working aliens.

"Trying to get the power back," the original Doctor replied, "There's always some power floating around."

"Sticking to the wires, like bits of lint," the ganger Doctor popped up from behind the console.

Amy frowned, "Can you stop finishing each other's..."

"Sentences?" the Doctor finished, "No probs."

"Yes," the ganger nodded and both ducked down behind the console again.

"Confused as hell," Avalon commented with a resigned sigh, "You - well, one of you - said that the TARDIS was stuck in acid, so won't she be damaged?"

One of the Doctors stood up again, but neither Avalon nor Amy (nor the Sapling for that matter) knew who was who. "Nah. She's a tough old thing. Tough, old, sexy."

"No," the other Doctor stood up, "Tough, _dependable_ , sexy."

"Come on. OK, how can...how can you both be real?" Amy felt like her head would spin if they continued to do that. She glanced at Avalon and saw the latte was more or less feeling the same. Only the Sapling seemed to be enjoying the situation.

"Well, because...we are. I'm the Doctor," went one of the pair.

"So am I," went the other, "We contain the knowledge of over 900 years of experience. We both wear the same bowtie, which is cool."

"Because bowties are..."

"And always will be."

"Stop it!" Avalon cut in with exasperation, "You weren't linked up to the Flesh so how did that work, exactly?"

"It must've been after I examined it," the original Doctor answered, "Thus, a new, genuine Doctor was created."

"Ta-da!" the ganger exclaimed.

"You mean I could've had a ganger too!?" the Sapling gasped at the idea as he recalled how close he'd been to the Flesh as well.

" _No_ ," Avalon shot him a look.

"Quite right," the Doctor agreed. "You were behind me, Sapling. I think it's better like that, though. Who knows what kind of ganger you would've gotten."

"It would've been cool," the Sapling mumbled, quite disappointed.

"But one of you was here first," Amy's pointed finger moved from one alien to the other.

"After the Flesh scanned me, I had an accident with a puddle of acid. Now new shoes, a situation which did not confront me learned self here."

"That satisfy you, Pond?" the ganger raised an eyebrow, "Ava?"

"Don't call me Pond, please," Amy said quietly as she moved around. She stepped beside Avalon when both Doctors looked at her. They were examining her as if she were some new experiment. "What?"

"Interesting," the ganger Doctor said, "You definitely feel more affection for him than me."

"No, I..." Amy could see why they would think that and felt uncomfortable having to explain. It should be obvious that she wasn't doing it to be mean. It was just natural. "Look, you're fine and everything, but _he_ is the Doctor. No offence. Being almost the Doctor is pretty damn impressive."

"Being almost the Doctor's like being _no_ Doctor at all," the ganger snapped.

"Don't overreact," Amy frowned.

"Well you are being rude," Avalon mumbled to her and received an elbow jabbed on her side, " _Ow_!"

"And what about _you_?" the ganger looked at the pained ginger.

"What about me?" she rubbed her side and glared at Amy.

"Do you think I'm real?"

"Being real is not the problem I have with you," blurted Avalon who then quickly covered her mouth, "Sorry."

"Ava," even the original Doctor was mildly surprised.

"Wha...she's the one who said you weren't real," Avalon pointed at Amy in a quick attempt to distract him.

"Yeah, thanks Avalon," Amy muttered, shooting her a glare.

"Oh shut up, you dug your own hole," Avalon snapped then sighed, dropping her hand from her side. "Look, I didn't mean for it to come out like that..."

"What were you trying to say, then?" the ganger was still snappy, which only made her frown.

"Listen, if you're really the same then you know exactly what my problem is. And just so we're clear, it's with both of you."

"Sounds like Father is in trouble," the Sapling announced. Avalon nodded her head, humming in agreement.

"I'm going to pull the _'I literally just came to life'_ card right now," the ganger Doctor happily said as it did free him of any problems. And even more, it made Avalon chuckle.

The Doctor watched with a frown as his ganger practically yanked Avalon's hand, bringing her far too close to him. _What_ did he think he was doing? Avalon was smiling like she wasn't angry with them two seconds ago.

"Well, I guess I can't be that mad with _you_ ," Avalon bobbed her head while she pretended to think. "But you can't use that line all the time."

"I'll come up with better ones," the ganger promised her then winked. Avalon might have blushed.

The original Doctor wasn't very pleased with the interaction and did the only thing he could do, "Communication a go-go!" he slammed his hand on the console repeatedly to break them up, succeeding easily.

"Can it find Rory?" Avalon quickly forgot the situation as she and Amy ran for the computer screen, though the ganger Doctor shot his original a look for his obvious attempt. The Doctor ducked his head with the controls. He needed to work, after all.

Cleaves was already maneuvering the screen by the time the gingers got to her, "There's no sign of him anywhere."

"Come on, baby, show yourself," Amy insisted.

~ 0 ~

After a while of checking the scans for Rory and Jennifer, Cleaves decided to activate a transmission for the mainland, "St John's calling. Emergency Alpha. St John's calling the mainland. Are you receiving me, Captain? Come in'," but there wasn't an answer back, "We'll never get a signal through this storm. St John's calling the mainland. Come in, this is urgent."

"'We're just about reading you, St John's. How are you doing? We've had all kinds of trouble here'."

"'Request immediate evacuation. We're under attack. The storm's affected our gangers. They're running amok."

"'Your gangers?'"

"Yes, our gangers are attacking us. We need you to take us off the island immediately and wipe them out."

The two Doctors looked at each other with concern, that wasn't part of the plan and Cleaves knew it.

"'Copy that, St John's. Shuttle's dispatched. Hang on'."

"You'll need to airlift us off the roof of the evac tower. And Captain, any further transmission sent by me must come with the following code word. I'm typing it, in case they're listening in.'

'"Got it. We'll swing in, get you out and decommission the Flesh'.

"We've got to get out of here," Buzzer said immediately after the transmission had been cut off.

"But we can't leave without Rory nor Jennifer," Avalon reminded him.

"We're not leaving without them," Amy firmly said.

"I want 'em found too, but it's about casualties, innit?" he raised an eyebrow at the two gingers, "Can't be helped."

"Well you're going to have to cope because we're not going anywhere without them," Avalon declared.

"What are you doing?" Amy had noticed the Doctor sitting in one of the chairs at the console typing away. She moved closer and observed the screen.

"Making a phone call," the Doctor answered distractedly.

"Who to?"

"No-one yet. It's on delay."

"Right, not getting it. Why exactly are you making a phone call?"

"Because, Amy, I am and always will be the optimist, the hoper of far-flung hopes and the dreamer of improbable dreams. The wheels are in motion. Done."

"I dream of getting out of here," Avalon sighed, "And as quick as possible."

"Will be taken care of," the Doctor pointed at her assuredly.

The Sapling had noticed Amy staring at something across the room. He came to stand beside her and tried to catch whatever it was she was looking at, but he couldn't find anything. He then realized that Amy hadn't even noticed he was standing right there. "Aunt Amy?" he tapped her arm and watched her jump in place. "What's wrong? What were you looking at?"

Amy rubbed her eyes and gazed at the wall she'd been staring at. Nope, no eye-patch woman there. _Why_ did she keep seeing that woman? Was it some effect from the TARDIS?

"Amy?" the Doctor called now once he saw how pale she was. "What happened?"

Amy didn't know if she would sound crazy but she had to get it off her chest. She'd been carrying the secret with her for a while now and for some reason, she felt like _now_ it was getting worse. She kept seeing the woman by the hour. "I can't take it anymore!" she exclaimed. "It's her! I keep seeing her!"

"What is she talking about?" Avalon inched behind the Doctor. Like the Sapling, Avalon gazed at the wall but found nothing.

"There's a woman I keep seeing, a woman with an eye-patch, and she has this habit of sliding walls open and staring at me," Amy frantically explained and missed the reactions of both Doctors.

"Is that like a movie?" the Sapling glanced at his Mother for the answer.

"Not one I've seen," the ginger promptly responded. She checked to see what the Doctor thought but noticed how unsurprised he was. "Doctor?"

"It's nothing," the original tried to wave off.

"Yeah, judging by Amy's face it doesn't look like it's 'nothing'," Avalon tilted her head, "What are-"

"It's a time memory. Like a mirage," he cut her off, "It's nothing to worry about."

"Liar," Avalon whispered then looked at the ganger beside her, ready to question him too.

However, he had his eyes closed and looked like he was in some type of pain, "It's in my head..." he hurried out the room.

"Hey, hold on!" Avalon called after him.

"Don't let him go," Cleaves warned.

"Leave it to me," Amy hurried out the room, hoping to fix some the things she'd said to him.

Unfortunately, that didn't seem the case for when she returned to the room, it was in a hurried run and heavy breath, "Keep him away from me!" she ordered and ran over to where the other Doctor was.

"Amy?" Avalon frowned at the attitude of her friend, "What's wrong?"

"Did you sense it?" the ganger Doctor came into the room and questioned his other self.

"Briefly. Not as strong as you."

"Sensed what?" Avalon walked over to Amy and hoped to calm her.

"Is there pictures we're missing?" the Sapling looked between the two Doctors, just as puzzled as everyone else.

"Not quite," went one of the Doctors.

"Amy, I'm sorry," the ganger Doctor apologized honestly.

"No, you keep away!" Amy snapped, pulling Avalon closer. Rory would definitely not want Avalon to be around the ganger who had radical, horrific emotions, "We can't trust you!"

"It would appear I can connect to the Flesh," the Doctor wasn't particularly paying attention to her at the moment.

"Well, you are Flesh," the ginger continued to say.

"I'm beginning to understand what it needs."

"What _you_ want. You are it."

"Amy," Avalon put a hand on Amy's arm, disliking the tone and attitude she was taking with the ganger. If he was connected to the Flesh, then he didn't exactly have a choice in what he saw.

"It's much more powerful than we thought," the Doctor continued on without notice, "The Flesh can grow, correct?"

Cleaves was another that wasn't very interested in the topic, "Its cells can divide."

"Well, now it wants to do that at will. It wants revenge," the Doctor approached her, "It's in pain, angry. It wants revenge."

"Hm, thing got a mind of its own now? Where did I hear that one...?" Avalon sarcastically looked around, "...mm, oh right," she crossed her arms as she finally stepped around Amy, _"Me."_

"Mother was right," the Sapling agreed with a nod of his head.

"Doctor, I told you that we couldn't trust him," Amy went up to the Doctor herself. "I was right. He can't be the Doctor. He can't ever be, he's just a copy."

"That's not very nice," the Sapling pointed.

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with the Sapling this time," Avalon folded her arms.

"Be quiet, Avalon," Amy snapped, nearly sounding like a mother and looking like it when she pulled Avalon back with her.

"Hey!"

"Doctor, it might be best if you stayed over there for now, hmm?" Cleaves resolved as she stepped towards the ganger, prompting the other Doctor to move up as well.

"Hold on a minute. Hold your horses," he cut in between the woman and the ganger, "I thought I'd explained this. I'm him, he's me."

"Doctor, we have no issue with you. But when it comes to your ganger..." Cleaves looked around to the other people for their opinions, though their faces were more than clear, except for one person of course.

"I think you're all overreacting a bit," Avalon tried to input but no one listened.

"Be quiet!" snapped Amy again, though this time Avalon sent her a deep glare.

"Tell me to shut up one more time, I _dare_ you," she gritted her teeth. It was completely outrageous that they forced the ganger Doctor on a barrel like he was some criminal.

Amy would not take the dare; she'd seen the fights Avalon had in the past and she wasn't interested in getting a black eye in the midst of all the trouble. "I just think it would be safer," she said, though her tone was still strained.

"Safer? They're the _same_!" Avalon gestured to the ganger and then to Doctor. "Down to the same stupid bow-tie! No two people can make that same mistake!"

The Sapling covered his mouth to giggle when both Doctors gave Avalon the same deadpanning look.

Amy, though, wouldn't listen as she shook her head. "You're too blinded by them."

A new type of anger flourished across Avalon's face when Amy made that accusation. Making that accusation basically told Avalon that Amy believed she couldn't separate reality from her stories, from the all the stories she'd heard about the Doctor. It was an outright offence, honestly. "I am _not_ blinded, Amelia Pond! I'm not seven! I'm not a child!"

"Avalon," the ganger Doctor stepped in when her face began to match the shade of her hair. He grabbed her arm and gently pulled her away from the mini-stare down she was having with Amy. "It's fine, really."

"No, it's not," Avalon continued shooting Amy glares. "I _hate_ when they say that. Like...like I'm too engulfed in my stories to realize that I'm in the _real_ world." She turned to him, expression akin to a beg. "I know I have my stories and I love them but I'm not blinded by them. I know you're real and that you have flaws and...this is the real world. It's not my fairy tale world."

"I know that," he assured her with a soft smile. "You don't have to prove it to me."

"...just like you don't have to prove to anyone that you're real," she said and shot the others another glare. "You're a ganger but you're the Doctor. _I_ know you are."

"And that counts for a lot, trust me," he rubbed her arms comfortingly. "My Ava."

She smiled back but when he moved to sit on the barrel the others ordered him to, she yanked him to his side. "Absolutely not. They can all suck it." She stuck her tongue out at anyone who saw.

From his spot, the original Doctor struggled hard not to laugh right there and then. _That's my Ava_.

After a couple minutes, the group got word from the mainland they were trying to land when the signal was cut off.

"I can't find Rory. I'm going out there," Amy had had enough of waiting around.

"We could use the sonic to track him," the Doctor offered as he pulled out his screwdriver, "Humans and gangers give off slightly different signals. The sonic can tell the difference."

"Oh, so the sonic knows gangers are different, so the other Doctor _is_ different."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "He is the Doctor."

"Not to me," Amy assured, "I can tell."

"Sure you're not prejudiced?"

"Nice try, but I know, OK? We've been through too much. You're my Doctor. End of."

"Amy, instead of making things worse come over here," Avalon was with Buzzer in front of the visual screens, "We've got Rory and Jennifer," everyone quickly gathered to see the screen.

"They're heading for the thermostatic room," Cleaves seemed confused and with great reason.

"Let's go get them," Amy declared but saw the screwdriver being tossed over to the Doctor on the barrel, "Hang on!"

"We can't let him go," Cleaves moved over to the Doctor, "Are you crazy?"

"Am I crazy, Doctor?" the Doctor turned to his other self.

"Well, you did once plumb your brain into the core of an entire planet just to halt its orbit and win a bet."

"I remember that!" the Sapling laughed as he watched the images in his head.

Avalon was not amused in the least. "That's not being crazy, that's being utterly _stupid_. And that's coming from _me_. Mels used to dare me to do the stupidest things."

"Enough!" Amy snapped. "Now he's not going-" she pointed to the ganger, "-I am!"

"Do you know, I want him to go," the Doctor stepped closer to her, serious, "And I'm rather adamant."

"Well, then, he'll need company, right, boss? It's fine. I'll handle it," Buzzer offered and stepped forwards.

"Thank you, Buzzer. It'll be all right. I'll find him," the ganger waved and left with Buzzer to follow.

"I can't explain it to you now, but I need you to trust him," the Doctor looked at Amy and even Avalon, "Can you do that for me?"

"Course," Avalon nodded but Amy seemed to have more trouble accepting it.

"What if you're wrong?" were her final words.

~ 0 ~

"These temperature gauges are rising," Cleaves read from the screen. They'd been monitoring the visuals for a while and was growing concerned, "Jennifer and Rory must have shut off the underground cooling vents."

"Why do that? They'll kill us," Dickens frowned.

"There's a million gallons of boiling acid under our feet..." Cleaves slowly looked down at the floor.

"And now it's heating up the whole island," the Doctor understood, "How long till it blows?" his answer was the explosion that rocked them entirely.

"Gangers or no gangers, we need to get the hell out of here," Dickens urgently said.

"Shuttle! We need evac," Cleaves started a transmission again, "Where are you? Can you hear me? Can you...?" she stopped when she felt a jab at her forehead.

"Cleaves? Cleaves, sit down," the Doctor helped her away the console and sat her on a chair.

"I'm fine," Cleaves assured as she put a hand on her forehead, I'm waiting for results, so let it go."

The Doctor had used the sonic on her and got results instantaneous, "It's a very deep parietal clot."

"Inoperable?"

"On Earth, yes."

"Well, seeing as Earth is all that's on... offer...hm," Cleaves slumped in her chair, "I'm no healthy spring chicken, and you're no weatherman. Right?"

Another quake struck and shook the room, "Something just cracked. I heard it," Avalon frantically looked around for anything that was breaking.

"Yeah, we can't stay here, let's go," the Doctor agreed and headed for the doors.

Cleaves moved to the console again and did another transmission, "Cleaves to Shuttle. We need to move, and we can't be collected from the evac tower."

_'Give us the codeword'._

"The codeword is..." but her voice was cut off with another quake that struck that console and cut off the transmission.

"Cleaves? Cleaves, it's dead, it's dead," the Doctor called to them, "We need to get out of here. We need to get back downstairs and get those vents back on, come on."

They ran into a new room where the Doctor and Cleaves hurried to change the settings on the machine, "It's a chemical chain reaction now. I can't stop it. This place is going to blow sky high," the Doctor sighed.

"Exactly how long have we got?" Cleaves asked.

"An hour? Five seconds? Er, somewhere in between."

The klaxon sounded along with a series of explosions, "Out!" the Doctor ordered and ran out the room with the group.

They ran a couple feet until they found Rory on a turn. Amy was the first to hug him as she was the closest one.

"All right?" Rory pulled back and studied her followed by Avalon.

"Us? What about you?" Avalon hugged him, "Don't you dare do that again!"

"Yeah, aunt Amy and Mother were very worried," the Sapling informed as if Rory hadn't already known that.

"There's a way out. Jennifer found it. A secret tunnel under the crypt," Rory pulled away and looked at the group.

"From the crypt? It's not on the schematics," Cleaves shook her head.

"It runs right out of the monastery. Maybe even under the TARDIS, Doctor. Follow me."

As everyone ran after Rory, the Doctor seemed slightly hesitant to do so.

"We can't leave without Buzzer," Jimmy said as they entered the new room.

"I'll go back for him," Cleaves called.

Rory was with the Doctor and was looking nervous for some reason, "Doctor, look...I'd better tell you, I haven't been quite straight with you..." but ganger Jennifer pulled him out the room before he could finish and locked the group inside.

"Rory!" the Doctor pounded on the door, "Rory Pond, Roranicus Pondicus!"

"Rory! What the hell are you playing at?" Avalon shouted but caught sight of Jennifer on the other side and knew it had to be that woman's fault.

"Rory, there is no time. This factory's about to explode!" Amy called frantically.

"I'm sorry!" Rory was able to say before he was dragged away by the Jennifer.

"Can we hurt _her_?" the Sapling made a deep scowl appear on his face. They were just trying to get home and that woman was about to kill them off.

With no other alternatives, the Doctor hurried back to the acid with the sonic, "This is going to overheat and fill the room with acid, just as a point of interest."

"Please, stop talking," Avalon sighed, she'd rather not hear about their looming death.

Dicken started lowering the cap over the vat as an effort against it. Jimmy moved closer to the vat and shook his head, "It'll never hold her.'

"If you have a better plan, I'm all ears," the Doctor pointed, "In fact, if you have a better plan, I'll take you to a planet where everyone is all ears."

"I've also seen that one!" the Sapling tapped the side of his head. "Can I go there afterwards?"

Even through the now shut cap, the acid was far stronger. Cleaves observed it from a distance, "The acid's eating through."

"This is it, huh? This is where we're going to die," Avalon shuddered a breath as she stared at the weak vat with soon-to-be overflowing acid. She felt her breathing pick up. That was new. She never really considered that one of their trips might be the last one.

The Doctor came over to her and hugged her. He didn't care if she would push him away; he needed for her know that he wouldn't leave her side. "No, it's not," he quietly said.

"Oh you don't have to lie," Avalon sighed. She allowed him to hug her for a few seconds, letting herself enjoy his hold just for a bit.

Jimmy had moved to keep the vat's lid down but some of the acid managed to splash on his chest, knocking him to the floor. At that moment, ganger Jimmy ran into the room and went straight for his other self. The Doctor had gone to check the original but found bad results, "There's nothing we can do. The acid's reached his heart."

"Hang in there, mate," ganger Jimmy sighed.

"I'm quite handsome from this angle," Jimmy managed to humor.

"I'm...sorry. I'm the fake. Adam deserves his real dad."

"Shut up," Jimmy playfully rolled his eyes.

"What do you want me to do? Anything, just say."

"The way things are, mate... it's up to you now," Jimmy pulled on the cord around his neck and gave it to his ganger, "Be a dad. You remember how."

A stunned ganger Jimmy held up a wedding band in his hand.

"Jimmy Wicks...you're a dad," the Doctor clapped him on the shoulder.

"Right then, everyone, it's time to go!" ganger Cleaves called to the group and ran out the room first.

The Doctor stood by the door as everyone ran out but noticed Avalon staring at the corner of the room. "Ava! Let's go!"

"Amy said that woman appeared there again," she pointed at the wall. "How can that be? There's nothing there."

"Avalon, it doesn't matter!" the Doctor ran back to bring her out of the room. "We have to go!"

"But it does!" Avalon snapped, yanking her arm out of his hold after they'd gotten into the corridor. "Because _you_ know what it means and don't want to tell us! And when you do that, it means something's happening."

"No, it's not," the Doctor tried his best to smile like nothing was going on around them, like neither of them were in danger. "You know me, I've got so many things in my head that I don't even know what's going on half the time."

"Nice try," Avalon rolled her eyes. "You know what's going on, more than you're letting on. But I shouldn't be surprised. It's what you do. Keep everything to yourself."

"This...isn't about Amy anymore, is it?"

Avalon once again rolled her eyes and when she attempted to leave, the Doctor grabbed her arm. "Look if you're not going to tell me anything, then just leave me alone."

"Now a wait minute, 10 minutes ago you were dandy with the other Doctor but now _I'm_ the one you're mad at?"

"Are you seriously telling me that you're jealous?" Avalon didn't know whether to laugh or scream in frustration. "Why are you like this?" she air-strangled him instead.

"Like what?" the Doctor frowned.

Avalon groaned, her hands dangerously close to actually strangling him by the neck. "I hate you, you know that!? Do you enjoy being self-righteous with me? Especially with me?"

"I would never-"

"-then why don't you just tell me the truth already?"

"What truth?"

"I'm going to kill you, _after_ ," Avalon muttered and stepped towards him. She grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket and pulled him close to her so he would definitely listen to her words. "If I'm really going to die here, then I _refuse_ to go without hearing you tell me the truth about _us_."

The Doctor's eyes widened. " _Oh_..."

"Yeah, 'oh'," Avalon could be pretty scary when she wanted to, and of course she'd choose to be the scariest when she wanted a confession from him about their feelings. She sure knew how to pick them.

"I don't think this is really the time. I mean, we have got some killer acid and actual killers after us-"

"-I don't bloody care," Avalon snapped. "I deserve for somebody to tell me the truth for once in my life." Her face suddenly softened, as did the grip of her hands on his jacket. She tilted her head slightly, eyes glimmering with tears. "And I would really like for that 'somebody' to be _you_."

"Ava...I can't..."

"Why not?" she asked through gritted teeth. "And don't tell me it's because there's nothing. Fantasy Fest. That's all the proof I need. You were about to kiss me and don't deny it."

"I stopped for a reason..."

"Because you nearly got caught."

"No, because...it was the right thing to do," the Doctor put his hands over hers and gently pulled them off his jacket. "Because I can't do that to you. You have me falling in temptation, Ava. Being who I am, it's a dangerous thing."

"And I told you plenty of times that I like dangerous. Literally. I love the adrenaline," Avalon said with the most honest smirk on her face. She raised her head as if daring him to challenge her.

He honest to God _loved_ that look on her. He could kiss her to death right now. He brought one of his hands to touch her face, very soon grazing her lips. "My Ava. You have no idea what goes through my head whenever you're around me."

"I would if you just told me," Avalon whispered.

"Thing is, Avalon, I've done this before and it never ended well," the Doctor's gaze lowered a bit.

Avalon could see the pain etching across his face, as if it were still raw because it happened yesterday. She didn't have to hear each individual story to know that the Doctor blamed himself for every ending. "You're 909, I believe you."

"I don't want you to be the next one. Because sometimes it's not the fact that they've left me, it's _how_ they ended up leaving. You won't be the next one, not on my watch."

Avalon's eyes watered up. "Can you just say it, though? Say it once, please."

But the Doctor wasn't brave enough. If he said it out loud, then it would finally become _real_. And when it became real, the pain that came with it would also be real. He couldn't do it. "I can't...I'm sorry..."

The ground suddenly rumbled underneath them, nearly knocking them both to the wall. The Doctor grabbed ahold of Avalon's arm - even if she wanted to murder him for his inability to speak the truth - and searched the hallway for a good route.

"We have to go!"

"I hate you!" Avalon didn't hesitate to start and he would be smart enough to know that this wasn't the end of their conversation. Just because they were about to die was no excuse! Not for them!

~ 0 ~

The rest of the group had entered a new room after being chased down by ganger Jennifer (who was now the only one bent on war). They'd met up with Rory and the other Doctor again and were now trying to keep Jennifer away from them. As Dicken came to shut the door that would keep Jennifer out, he crashed into a running Avalon and Doctor.

"Where the hell have you two been?" called Rory from the end of the room, frankly offended they'd left them to their luck.

"Yeah, ganger Jennifer is still after us!" the Sapling waved his arms frantically. Of course then he dropped them when he noticed how angry his mother looked. "Why are you upset, Mother?"

"Ask your father," Avalon shoved the Doctor with her to the side.

A scream carried down the hallway and made everyone look out to see Dickens shut the door with himself on the other side. Jennifer had killed him and was making her way towards the group now. Ganger Dickens shut the door in front of them with the help of ganger Cleaves and the Doctor that had come in with Avalon.

There was a creaking sound from the ceiling and the other Doctor looked up to see a familiar blue square coming through. "Here she comes!" The TARDIS fell down and added an extra rumble to the ground. "Oh, she does like to make an entrance! Move!" he ordered as he went up to the doors and opened them up for the group, "Go, go, go, go!"

Ganger Dickens left the door and ran into the TARDIS. Cleaves was going to do the same but looked back at her ganger, "Get on board! Go!" the ganger shooed he off.

"I'm not leaving," Cleaves tried to argue but the loud bang Jennifer gave on the other side of the door cut her off.

"Go!" the ganger yelled at her and so went Cleaves into the TARDIS.

"Sapling!" the Doctor called from the TARDIS. "GO!" The Sapling nodded his head quickly and made a dash for the blue box.

"Now's our chance," Amy hurried to the TARDIS and looked back at the others, specifically the Doctor at the door.

"I have to stay. Hold this door closed. Give you time to dematerialize."

"What are you doing?" Avalon frowned, "What happens if you stay here?"

"Well, this place is just about to explode. But I can stop her."

"Both of you can survive this, OK?" Amy looked between the two aliens.

"Or perhaps you think I should stay instead... Mr Smith?"

"No, of course not. But look, this man, I've flown with him, you know? And you are amazing and yeah, I misjudged you, but you're not him. I'm sorry."

"Amy, we swapped shoes. _I'm_ the Doctor," the Doctor by the TARDIS informed.

"And I'm...the Flesh," the Doctor at the door said rather nervously as he looked at Avalon.

"You're what now?" her eyes widened.

"I, uh, I...probably should've mentioned that before-"

"-right, because telling the truth is _so_ easy for you clearly," she rolled her eyes.

"No, hold on!" Amy shook her head fervently as if that would make things more clear. "How's this even possible!?"

"Well, they switched places, didn't they?" Rory wasn't that surprised the Doctor would pull something like that. In fact, they should've just seen it coming.

"Well I'm not the original, I haven't been all along," the ganger Doctor shrugged, not able to explain much further.

"I don't know which one of you to kill right now," Avalon looked between both aliens, though the reactions from each were different. The one at the door looked heavily frightened while the one at the TARDIS was trying to understand what was going on.

"Ava? What happened?" the Doctor, the real one, asked her.

"Is there a way you both can survive?" Amy's hair kept flinging from side to side as she asked the two Doctors.

"Yeah, so I can kill both of them," mumbled Avalon.

"You okay?" Rory touched Avalon's arm, the only one who wouldn't die at the moment. She shook her head in response. "What happened?"

"Nothing!" she quickly exclaimed, shooting the ganger a sharp look, "Nothing happened," though her face was upset and sad, "Just, um, just tell us, is there a way of survival for you?" she genuinely wondered.

"Get to safety, Ava," was the answer of the ganger, a soft smile on his face.

"Well we can't just let him die!" Amy exclaimed, frantically shaking as no one seemed very worried about that detail.

"It's fine, Pond," the ganger Doctor smiled just like his other version would. "We got what we needed from this place, didn't we?" he shared a knowing look with the other Doctor, both nodding in agreement.

"What?" Avalon caught on and frowned even deeper. "Oh! I am so done with you two!"

"No Avalon, wait!" the ganger grabbed her arm and gently tugged her to his side. "You were right...about everything." She still shook her head, more ready to kill him before ganger Jennifer did. "Hey, I mean it," he tugged her arm again, forcing her to look at him. "You were absolutely right, but then again...when aren't you right?"

She wanted to roll her eyes again but he had that stupid grin she liked a lot. While she was lost in her thoughts - deciding whether to keep pretending to want to kill him or just leave - she didn't notice that the ganger Doctor had leaned to her side until he whispered something in her ear. When he drew away, she had her wide-eyed stare locked on him and she had a deep blush across her face.

"What he say?" Amy scrunched, wondering if it was some other secret the two aliens had kept from them.

Even the Doctor by the TARDIS was puzzled. "Ava?"

Avalon shared a small smile with his ganger. "You finally said it," she leaned closer to him, letting her nose rest against his cheek. " _Thank you_. And you know that I feel the same," she told him in a whisper. She pulled away and looked at the door he and Cleaves were desperately trying to keep locked, but ganger Jennifer was using all her monstrous strength to pound against it.

"You need to go," the ganger ordered her. "Please."

"But..."

"I'll be fine," he assured.

"You lie," she said sadly. He didn't say anything except give her another smile. She nodded, indicating she understood, but before she left she surprised him with a kiss on the cheek. She went right into the TARDIS without looking at anyone else, much less the other Doctor who couldn't be more confused in his life! _What_ had that ganger of him said to her and _why_ did she react like that? They were so close too...

Of course he soon turned an accusing look on his ganger, demanding questions with a silent glare.

"Oh shut up," went the ganger in return. "Maybe she's the one who can change things. Because if _you_ don't, and I survive this, _I'm_ coming back for her. You got that?"

"I'm interested," Amy remarked to Rory, both of them looking at each of the Doctors at the same time. "But I'm so confused at the same time."

"I'm not," Rory frowned. It was what he specifically wanted nothing of for the sake of Avalon. "Let's go!" he yanked his wife towards the TARDIS, leaving the two Doctors to work out whatever they needed to.

Avalon was inside with the Sapling but while the tree child was ecstatic to be safe inside the TARDIS, Avalon was lost in thoughts. Rory took a quick stride towards the woman, dreading what was going on through her head.

"Hey Ava," his voice, though gentle, managed to startle her, "Are you okay?"

"Uh...yeah, I think I am," Avalon answered but she still seemed like she was figuring it out. "I just..." she laughed humorlessly, "Why is he so...like _that_!?"

"Ava," Rory deeply sighed and brought a hand to her curly hair. "I really wish you hadn't..." he couldn't finish it out loud, for her sake, but she just smiled sadly.

"I couldn't help it Rory," she said with the tone of a child. She always did that whenever they had a serious talk. He was like the grown up because God knew she could never be an adult.

"Told you," Amy was smirking, completely the opposite of her husband.

"I don't get it," the Sapling suddenly said, his lips curled into a pout. "What's going on? What are we talking about?"

Avalon just laughed, wholeheartedly for the first time that day. "Oh Sapling, nothing. Nothing except your Mother is a true idiot."

~ 0 ~

After making sure the gangers were stable and dropping ganger Jimmy back to his son, the Doctor brought Cleaves and ganger Dickens back to the headquarters of their factory.

"You really want us to do this?" Cleaves sighed as they approached the conference room.

"Your company's telling the world that the situation is over. You need to get in there and tell them that the situation's only just begun," the Doctor pointed to the door, "Make them understand what they're doing to the Flesh. Make them stop. Dickens, remember, people are good. In their bones, truly good. Don't hate them, will you?"

"How can I hate them? I'm one of them now," he gestured to Cleaves beside her.

"Yeah, and just remember, people died. Don't let that be in vain. Make what you say in that room count."

"Ready? Side by side," Cleaves said as they'd stopped in front of the conference door.

"You got it, boss."

Together, the two co-workers entered the conference room. Amy moved closer to the Doctor and nudged him, "You okay?"

"I said breathe, Pond, remember? Well, breathe," the Doctor sighed as he knew what was coming next. He started making his way back for the TARDIS where Avalon had preferred to stay. Now, on top of a ganger Amy, he had to decipher what secret Avalon was refusing to tell him. And more importantly, what the hell his ganger had whispered in her ear.

"Why?" Amy called but couldn't say more when she doubled over in pain. "Ooh! Woah! Oh!"

"What's wrong with her?" Rory quickly tried checking her for any injury, but he didn't remember seeing anything earlier.

"Get her into the TARDIS," the Doctor ordered and entered the box.

"What's wrong with aunt Amy!?" the Sapling's cry pulled Avalon away from her journal. She looked up to see the Doctor and Rory helping Amy get into the TARDIS.

"Contractions," the Doctor bitterly answered as he went around the console, setting the TARDIS in motion.

"Excuse me?" Avalon hopped off her seat and hurried to help Rory.

"She's going into labor."

The Sapling gasped. "Aunt Amy's having a _baby_!? I thought it was Mother!"

"Would you stop saying that!?" snapped Avalon. This was no time to remind her that she needed to change diets.

"Doctor, what are you talking about!?" Amy asked in-between groans. She literally felt like she was being stabbed in her stomach. "Rory, I don't like this - OW!"

"You'll have to start explaining this to me, Doctor," Rory practically ordered. He could handle the secrets the Doctor kept from them when it wasn't about Amy. Something was happening to his wife and he wanted answers _now_.

"What, the birds and the bees? She's having a baby," the Doctor moved away from the console. The Sapling gasped again, in delight until someone would tell him it wasn't all that great when the person in labor didn't even know she was in labor. "I needed to see the Flesh in its early days. That's why I scanned it. That's why we were there in the first place. I was going to drop you off for fish and chips first, but things happened and there was stuff and shenanigans. Beautiful word, shenanigans."

"You're getting off topic," Avalon snapped. "Not to mention the fact I _knew_ you were keeping something from us!"

"It hurts!" cried the second ginger.

"Breathe," the Doctor pointed at Amy, "I needed enough information to block the signal to the Flesh."

"What signal?" Amy didn't understand and quite frankly didn't have the head to decipher it with all the pain she was feeling.

"The signal to you."

"Doctor?"

"Stand away from her," the Doctor sternly looked at Avalon and Rory. He expected the simultaneous refusal from them, but it didn't mean he would be patient about it. Time was literally of the essence now. From here on out, they were at war.

"You need to start explaining _now_ ," Avalon's eyes narrowed on the Doctor, and with good reason.

"Given what we've learned, I'll be as humane as I can, but I need to do this and you two-" his voice suddenly rose in volume, "-need to STAND AWAY!"

Avalon flinched when he started yelling. She didn't say anything back, she didn't dare to. Instead, she looked at Rory and the two slowly backed away from Amy. Why were they leaving her!? Why was the Doctor shouting at them!? And _why_ did her stomach hurt so much!?

"No, no, Doctor, I am frightened. I'm properly, properly scared!"

Even the Sapling had the good sense to be afraid now that he was looking at everyone. He slowly inched closer to Avalon who, once she felt him nearby, slowly took him into a hug.

"Don't be. Hold on. We're coming for you, I swear it," the Doctor stepped closer to Amy, putting a hand on her cheek. He felt terrible for taking this long to finally do something about her situation. "Whatever happens, however hard, however far, we _will_ find you."

"I'm right _here_!" Amy clung to his arm, shaking him to get him to listen to her. But despite her insistence, she could see in his eyes that he'd already made up his decision about her.

"No, you're not. You haven't been here for a long, long time," he stepped back and held his sonic at her. The mere act froze Avalon and Rory in their respective spots. It looked like Amy was suddenly the enemy trespassing.

Amy whimpered in her spot, one hand still wrapped around her stomach. "No..."

With one click of the sonic, she turned into a Flesh puddle.

Rory gasped at the sight of what used to be his wife.

Avalon's eyes wide to the brim. Her grip around the Sapling tightened as if they were next on the list.

The Doctor slowly lowered his sonic but he couldn't look at Rory nor Avalon. What would he tell them? That he'd known for a while Amy wasn't really there with them but he didn't have the tools nor the knowledge to find her?

"Doctor," Rory suddenly spoke up. "Hey?" he had to call twice before the Time Lord would finally glance at him, but only then it was a slight glance. "I don't understand what just happened, nor what _is_ happening but I bet my life that you knew about this."

"Rory-"

"-NO," Rory's voice sharpened quick, shutting the Doctor down in that moment, "You knew about it for God knows how long so right now, you _owe_ me."

"Rory, stop," Avalon's voice was a frail whisper. She was truly afraid of what was coming next, but Rory was already thinking ahead and it included _her_.

"Avalon, be quiet," Rory snapped. It was so uncharacteristic of him but it was another testament of how furious he was. He walked straight up to the Doctor, and showcased his deepest glare. "You owe me and I'm gonna use that to save the other person I just _know_ is in danger." The Doctor blinked at him, unsure of where Rory was taking this until Rory's eyes flickered to Avalon. "I've felt this for a while and nobody would listen to me, not even Amy."

"Rory, what are you talking about?" Avalon asked, about to walk towards them when the Sapling hugged her tighter. He was mighty afraid and the fact everyone looked so angry and upset didn't help ease his nerves.

"The letter, Avalon," the Doctor said, side-glancing her with sorrow eyes. Now it was Rory's turn to be confused. Neither he nor Amy had heard about the letter. "What did the letter say?"

Avalon's eyes would blink several times before she answered and when she did, she still wasn't sure what it had to do with their conversation. " _Dear Avalon, I know this is strange and probably confusing but it is imperious that you listen to me. You must remain with the Doctor for your own safety. Bad things are coming, and they will be coming for you and all your friends_." She swallowed hard, attempting to keep calm but her body was visibly shaking. "But it-it's not about me right now. It's about Amy-"

"-but they could be the same people that letter was talking about," the Doctor sighed. "I should have known from the start. I should have been more careful."

"Doctor, they got to Amy but we can still keep Avalon safe," Rory said, now more urgent since they finally figured out what he was trying to say.

"Yes, you're right," the Doctor nodded, turning towards Avalon. The woman took an instinctive step backwards, bringing the Sapling with her in the process. "Avalon, you might be next."

"No, stop it!" she snapped. "We need to focus on Amy and-"

"-you," Rory said. "I'm not losing you too."

"What...what are you going to do?" Avalon asked, her tone laced with a clear fear.

"Whatever it takes," the Doctor promised her.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

You guys have no idea how long I've waited for these next chapters to start! GET. READY. Because it all goes down from here!

And just out of curiosity, who do you think wrote the letter? Let me see some guesses! ;)

Also, I honestly get so confused with the ganger and the Doctor when writing these chapters so I just made them be who I needed them to be for the plot! Just in case anyone realizes it doesn't match the episode.

**P. S:** I have created a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	11. A Different Wire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor charges on to find Amy and her baby. He's taken every precaution possible to keep everyone else safe, including putting Avalon into a lockdown. He's determined to keep his word to Rory and keep Avalon safe but when the battle seems to be over on Demons Run, they learn that the Silence has not only been watching Amy closely...Avalon has also been under their careful eyes.

_A little fairy comes at night,_

_Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown'_

_with silver spots upon her wings,_

_And from the moon she flutters down._

_She has a little silver wand_

_And when a good child goes to bed_

_She waves a hand from right to the left_

_And makes a circle round its head._

_And then it dreams of pleasant things,_

_Of fountains filled with fairy fish_

_And trees that bear delicious fruit_

_And bow their branches at a wish._

_Of arbors filled with dainty scents,_

_From lovely flowers that never fade,_

_Bright flies that glitter in the sun_

_And glow-worms shining in the shade_

_And talking birds with gifted tongues_

_For singing songs and telling tales_

_And pretty dwarfs to show the way_

_Through fairy hills and fairy dales._

_A little fairy comes at night,_

_her eyes are blue and her hair is brown_

_With silver spots upon her wings_

_And from the moon she flutters down_

Amy held her baby daughter in her arms as she recited the poem she knew by heart. It was a stupid poem - lullaby - that her own mother used to sing to her before bed. Amy would never tell Avalon that, though. That woman thrived on fairy tales it was ridiculous. But now Amy could see why her mother would tell her the poem. It was soothing and magical. It calmed her daughter each time she read it. Maybe when this was all over, Avalon could take over in the fairy tale department because Amy felt like her voice lacked the talent Avalon owned.

But for the meantime, Amy had to do things on her own. It was a scary job to do when she had no idea where she was and the fact she didn't own one weapon against the people holding her captive. She could only hold her daughter close to her when she was allowed to carry her.

Melody was the only thing keeping Amy sane. At one month the baby girl was a cheery one, a gurgling one, and she never seemed to cry. It was as if Melody knew that things were tough and she didn't want to add more to the problem. Melody would attentively listen to the things her mother would tell her, from the sweet poems to the inspirational speeches. She loved them all.

Amy tried not to think about the soldiers inside the room she was in, all packed even with the eye-patch woman, Madame Kovarian.

"I wish I could tell you that you'll be loved. That you'll be safe and cared for and protected. But this isn't a time for lies. What you are going to be, Melody is very, very brave," Amy was quiet with her words, but only because she didn't want Melody to pick up on her stressed tone.

Madame Kovarian - the eye patch lady - was waiting at the front of the room, just like she always did. "Two minutes," she warned, not that Amy would look at her.

"But not as brave as _they'll_ have to be," Amy continued with Melody close by. "Because there's someone coming. I don't know where he is, or what he's doing, but trust me. He's on his way. There's a man who's never going to let us down. And not even an army can get in the way..." She trailed off when she saw the soldiers with Kovarian coming for her again. Not her, but _her_. Melody. Amy instinctively backed away a couple steps. "Leave her, just you leave her! Please leave her! Leave her!"

It was the same thing each time, and each time Amy fell for it.

Kovarian took Melody from her and returned the infant to the bassinet at the front of the room. Amy was right on Kovarian's trail though and stole a last look at Melody. "He's the last of his kind. He looks young, but he's lived for hundreds and hundreds of years. And wherever they take you, Melody, however scared you are, I promise you, you will never be alone." She leaned down and kissed Melody's forehead. "Because this man is your father."

~ 0 ~

A grim Avalon awaited in the console room for the Doctor and Rory to return, practically at the doors. Eventually, the two men entered the TARDIS and took a long breath. It'd been another close one but a very good success.

Avalon and the Sapling had promptly waited for them to return, but the former looked close to bursting from anger.

"Good moment?" Avalon crossed her arms with a raised eyebrow. "Success? Victory?"

"I think you know," Rory pointed at her, moving to give her a hug but Avalon stepped back, making him sigh.

"You don't get hugs until my lockdown is lifted," she snapped and looked at the Doctor next, "Goes for you too."

"Ava, we've been through this," the Doctor began as he followed her towards the console with Rory.

"Give it a rest, big brother, it's not gonna work," Lena Reynolds poked her head from behind the console rotor. "Better spend your time over here to get that location the Cybermen told us."

The Doctor grumbled under his breath but followed Lena's suggestion. She'd been recruited after ganger Amy had been deactivated in hopes of finding the real Amy faster. Apart from that, Avalon had been set into a deep, _serious_ lockdown in the TARDIS after the events in the ganger factory. Avalon literally screamed, thrashed and at one point was locked in her bedroom, but nothing would get through to her. They were trying to keep her safe and in return she wanted to kill them.

The only thing that somewhat calmed her was bringing Lena along. It'd worked so far but Avalon already had thin patience. One month was about it.

~ 0 ~

"C'mon, at least let me help get the people," Avalon was following the Doctor around the console, resorting to bugging the hell out of him until he agreed, like always. The screaming hadn't helped and the fact she'd kicked him in the shin definitely didn't do any favors.

She would resort to old fashioned begging.

"Avalon, you know the rules. You need to stay in here for your own safety."

"Oh c'mon! You've sent _Lena_ to pick up a _Silurian_! That right there was very irresponsible!"

"Vastra is an old friend and she wouldn't hurt anyone...anymore," the Doctor kept his gaze fixated on the controls because the moment he met Avalon's begging eyes, he would fall right for it.

"This is ridiculous! You can't keep me in here, you know!? I _do_ have rights! I should know, I've _been_ in an actual jail!"

"I could very well drop you off at UNIT," the Doctor warned, or threatened, whichever one would make her understand. "I'm sure an old friend of mine wouldn't mind keeping an eye on you."

"What?" frowned Avalon. "You are beyond ridiculous! I can't believe you're not using one of your biggest assets to get Amy back! This is beyond me - this is about our friend who was _kidnapped_! With her baby!"

"I know that!" he snapped, finally turning to her. At least she wasn't begging anymore. "And it's because I've already lost Amy that I'm not risking _you_! Never you, Avalon."

Avalon paused at his sudden softness. "Don't do that," she said after a moment.

"Don't do wh-"

"-don't go all soft and mushy on me when it doesn't mean a damn thing," she snapped. "I'm tired of it. At least your ganger had the decency to be honest before we let him die."

"Oh, here we go again!" the Doctor flapped his arms in frustration. Every damn time they had an argument, his stupid ganger would come up in the conversation. It drove the Doctor crazy not knowing what his ganger had told Avalon just before they escaped the Flesh. "If you're going to keep bringing that up, the least you can do is tell me what he said that got you so riled up with _me_!"

"It's the fact that _he_ was able to be honest with me and you can't! That's incredibly sad and each time I remember it hurts, do you get that? It _hurts_. You hurt me."

Her words punctured each of his hearts. Her eyes had watered up as soon as she said them. That's what got him. She wasn't angry with him, she was disappointed and _hurt_. Hurt because of _him_. And he had no idea how to fix it, especially when he didn't have the context.

"Ava," he slowly touched her cheeks until he had successfully cupped her face without being slapped for it. "You need to understand that everything I'm doing is to keep you safe. I can't lose you too. You have to be different."

"Different from _what_?" she begged for at least one answer to her millions of questions.

"From everyone before you," he smiled sadly. He wanted to change the story so badly, he wasn't letting himself think about himself for one second. All he allowed himself to think about were the people that had come before Avalon who had suffered terrible fates because he hadn't been careful. "Have I ever told you the story of Donna Noble?"

"No, who is she?"

"She is the woman who used to travel with me before you and the Ponds. She was my best friend. She saved the 27 stolen planets from being destroyed. She was so loud and so courageous - you remind me of her sometimes. You even have the ginger hair to match."

Avalon felt the 'but' coming soon. He had never talked about his previous companions and she'd never really dared to ask considering what their endings had probably been. "...what happened to her?"

The Doctor sighed and let his hands drop from her face. " _I_ happened. I was selfish and I wasted a regeneration and put all that energy into a jar. Donna absorbed that energy in what we call a metacrisis. She became part Time Lord and that could never be. She nearly died if I hadn't wiped her memories."

"She...lost her memories?" Avalon gulped. This is what many of her stories of the Doctor didn't contain: the tragic endings of his trips and his companions. "Like...everything?"

"Everything that had to do with me and her travels. Avalon, she was the most important woman in the universe. Different alien species still sing about the Doctor-Donna because of what she did and who she saved. And I had to erase everything from her head. She's off living her life on Earth and I can never see her again. And she can never remember what she did in her travels." It was the first time that Avalon saw true, genuine tears in the Doctor's eyes. He was reliving that terrible moment of his lives, firmly believing it was his fault. "She was my best friend, Avalon, and I lost her. And I've lost people I considered more than a friend. You want to know where the last person I had feelings for is at right now?"

"No-" Avalon's voice had turned frail, full of guilt.

"She's stuck in another universe. _I_ did that to her. _Twice_. She can never come back."

Avalon felt the twinge of guilt double in that one second. Okay, maybe she hadn't been thinking as logically as he obviously had, but in her defense he wouldn't let her. She just wanted to be with him, be happy together. "I'm sorry," she whispered, bringing one hand to rub her other arm. "I-I didn't think about that stuff. But I mean...Doctor, you _never_ say anything about your past. I stopped asking questions because I assumed that with time you would trust us to tell us on your own."

"It's not about trusting you, it's about how you'll react to it. There are horrors that come with me. Tragedies. And no matter how much I try, I can't stop them. Amy and Rory have already become part of that list- their daughter who was _unborn_ is already on the list. I'm not gonna make that mistake with you. _You_ are where the cycle ends."

Now this Avalon could appreciate because now she _knew_ what he meant. He stopped being cryptic with her and just told her the truth. It was a truth she couldn't discard so easily because it was so important to him, but she wasn't going to let it ruin what she knew could be so good for them both.

She would just need to prioritize first. Her patience could last a bit longer now.

"Okay, I hear you," she said, stepping closer to him. She brought her hands to his face now, smiling encouragingly. "But I'd also like if you heard _me_."

"Avalon-"

"I propose that for the moment we set aside our differences and work together to get Amy back. Afterwards, we can resume this conversation. Sound fair?"

The Doctor would nod if he didn't already know what her proposal consisted of. "You can't go outside."

Avalon's smile wanted to falter but she kept it right on her face. "You'll find that I do as I please. Besides, it's been one month and they haven't done anything else. I bet their minds are so preoccupied with Amy that they don't even remember about little ole me. Now c'mon, I know who's next on that list of recruitment and I _so_ want to be the one who picks her up."

"No, Avalon. It's just too dangerous."

"It's literally a prison - how much safer can it get? I don't think whoever's behind this is stupid enough to go barging into the highest maximum security prison, do you?"

The Doctor swayed his head, able to see that clear logic. "Well..."

"Please? Please? Please? Please? Please!?" the ginger clung to his arms as she begged, though now she did with a wide smile, "You can even send Rory or Lena with me, if you want. Or you can come, or-"

"Fine," he covered her mouth. See, he shouldn't have looked into her eyes. "But only because it's a prison and I know if River tries anything she'll be shot down."

Avalon took his hand off her mouth and frowned, "Since when did you become so doubtful of River? She's done nothing but help us every time we see her."

"Yeah and half the time it's because _she_ made the mess," the Doctor pointed out. They all loved pointing out how many mistakes he made that River had to come and help fix. "Plus, there's things I've learned about her, things that make me nervous."

"Like what?"

The Doctor gaze on her was long. There was no way he could tell her that a good part of his reluctance with River stemmed from the fact River was meant to harm Avalon. "Future things."

Avalon rolled her eyes. "Oh, well, please, that's more than enough explanation. I completely understand. But you know what, I'm taking Rory to go get River. Thank you!" she gave him a quick hug then started shouting for Rory as she ran into the hallway.

The Doctor really hoped he hadn't messed.

~ 0 ~

In Stormcage, alarms blared as River Song, dressed in a Victorian gowm, swayed her way towards her cell. It nnver got old how frantic the place would get whenever she would pop away for a trip. It wasn't like she wouldn't come back! She stopped in front of a wall phone and picked it up, "Oh, turn it off. I'm breaking _in_ , not out. This is River Song, back in her cell..." She was about to hang up when she thought of something else and pressed the phone back to her ear. "Oh, and I'll take breakfast at the usual time. Thank you!" She finally hung up and continued down the corridor but stopped when she saw two silhouettes in the dark, one specifically dressed as a Roman. "Oh, are you boys dressing up as Romans now? I thought nobody read my memos."

Avalon stepped out of the shadows first with an amused smile, "Your memos are about Roman costumes?" she glanced at Rory, snickering, "This is why I like her!"

Rory shook his head at her and got to business. He wasn't pleased that the Doctor had broken his promise and allowed Avalon out, even if it was to a prison of maximum security. Rory wanted to get out of there fast and return Avalon back to the TARDIS. "Dr. Song? It's Rory, and Avalon. Sorry, have we met yet? Time streams, I'm not quite sure where we are..."

"Yes. Yes, we've met," River nodded, sounding rather sad. Avalon could tell, despite the darkness that surrounded them. "Hello, Rory, Avalon."

"What's wrong?" Avalon asked her, taking a step forwards until Rory gripped her arm to keep her from taking another one.

"It's my birthday," River nervously laughed.

"Oh, happy birthday," Avalon smiled, now understanding her current attire, "That's why you broke out, then. Where'd you go? Victorian London?" River nodded her head. "You know, the Doctor's yet to take us there."

"You'll be there soon enough," River promised, though she didn't look very happy about the idea. Avalon presumed this was another 'spoiler'. River knew something that they couldn't know about yet.

"I hope you didn't go alone, though," Avalon said, hoping to steer the conversation somewhere lighter. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to do much.

"Um...somewhere, with a special someone," River nodded, still forcing a tight smile on her face. She couldn't tell Avalon anything of where they'd gone for her birthday. If she did, she'd have to explain why it was only them two and no Ponds nor Doctor.

"We need your help," Rory declared. Things weren't moving fast enough.

River nodded and went to her cell, pulling out her diary to pinpoint their timelines. "Where are we then?"

"They've taken Amy," Avalon said just as River pinpointed their timelines.

River froze for a moment then turned around with widened eyes. "Demons Run."

"How...how did you know?" Rory blinked as did Avalon.

"I'm from your future. I always know," River tried to keep herself calm as she glanced back at the two, "Why on earth are you wearing that?" she eyed Rory's Roman garbs.

"The Doctor's idea."

"Of course. His rules of engagement," River rolled her eyes, "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

"Look ridiculous," Avalon remarked with a smirk.

"Have you considered heels?" River joked.

"They've taken Amy. And our baby," Rory was in no mood for jokes at the moment, "The Doctor's getting some people together, we're going after her, but he needs you too."

"I can't," River mumbled, her eyes teary. "Not yet, anyway."

"River?" Avalon was confused by the change of attitude that took place in the brunette. She'd fought so hard with the Doctor to let her come get River and now the woman was going to leave them hanging!?

"This is The Battle of Demons Run," River neared them, "The Doctor's darkest hour. He'll rise higher than ever before and then fall so much further. And...I can't be there till the very end."

"Why not?"

"Because this is it," River shuddered a breath, "This is the day he finds out who I am, when everyone finds out."

"Timelines," Avalon could understand the reason and had to resign her insistence. But just as River had explained, her expression turned frantic.

"Avalon you need to stay away from that place! Demons Run is where everything happens - it's where _you_ are in most danger!"

Avalon groaned. "Not you too, River. You're sounding just like everyone else."

But River was adamant to be heard. "I am serious! You know _why_ the Doctor will fall the hardest here than any other time he's had battles? Because of _you_."

Avalon's eyebrows knitted together, frankly offended that now it was all being blamed on her. "What, so it's my fault things go wrong?"

"No, it's mine," River didn't hesitate to answer, startling both Avalon and Rory. "I should've been more ready, but I wasn't and now I _need_ the Doctor to step up and keep you safe. You need to stay in the TARDIS until it's all over." River's eyes flickered to Rory, pleading him to heed her warning.

Rory didn't need to be told twice what he already knew. But now if River was begging for the same thing, then there must be a serious good reason. "She's been in the TARDIS this whole time. She only came for you."

"Yeah and you're making me look bad here," Avalon folded her arms, deeply scowling. "What the hell, River!?"

"Tell the Doctor that he needs to listen to me," River told Rory as if Avalon wasn't shooting her daggers.

"You got it," Rory nodded and this time held Avalon's arm tightly as they headed back for the TARDIS

~ 0 ~

This time there was no getting discussion with the Doctor. Once he heard what River told them, he had no hesitation to shout like Avalon - making it an interesting fight when they both matched volumes - until she got the point that she wouldn't be leaving the TARDIS.

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Avalon was as red as her hair, possibly more. "You can't just bench me!"

"Oh I can and I am," the Doctor leveled her glare with his own. And given his age, he had a better one than Avalon...but not by much. "You are staying here with Lena-" he gestured to the woman in question who was being forced to watch the entire argument unfold, "-and taking control of the TARDIS."

"Avalon, if River says this is what has to happen then we should follow it," Lena chimed in only to get the same hard look from Avalon. "She's from the future, she knows what happens."

"Today's the day I start hating River," Avalon resolved. "Only question is will you be added to the list?" she landed her hard, blue eyes on the Doctor.

"If it means keeping you safe then so be it," he resolved as well. "I told you I wasn't making the same mistakes again."

He could practically see the smoke coming out of her ears at this point. She walked up a few steps until she could better look him in the eyes. There were so many words running through her head right now, but she wanted to find the words that would sting the most. It was one of her flaws. She would default to hurting people one way or another in retaliation.

"You know what?" she raised her head, allowing him to see how serious she was. "I bet that when you had to wipe Donna's memories you didn't give _her_ a choice either, huh?"

The right words indeed.

She saw the pain strike across the Doctor's face in two seconds flat. There was a hint of betrayal, asking her how could she turn that against him when it was such a difficult memory to share.

She tilted her head to the side, letting him know that she was studying the effects of her words on him. "Remember me when you're out there, winning or losing. I'm supposed to be your friend, someone you value apparently, yet you won't let _me_ make my _own_ choice. Some Fairy Tale Man you are." She turned around and stormed into the hallway.

The Doctor was left to process her strong sting until he remembered Lena was still there. She was gazing at him sympathetically, and perhaps sorrowfully.

"I'm sorry about her," Lena felt compelled to apologize on behalf of her sister. Despite not knowing what Avalon was talking about, it clearly hurt the Doctor a lot. "When she's angry she'll say anything to win. Once she's cooled off she'll realize how insensitive she was. I'm not excusing her, I'm just telling you what's going to happen...in case you don't want to forgive her for that."

A brief smile appeared on the Doctor's face. "Please," his sarcastic tone pretty much stated he would always forgive Avalon. "Ava is Ava and that's who she needs to be...who I want her to be."

Lena nodded and did patiently wait for him to finish that sentence but when he didn't, she did. "Because you like her. A lot." For once, Lena was satisfied to be the one who left the Doctor speechless. She didn't have a lot moments like those. "I've always known, big brother," she shrugged. "Just like I've always known where my sister's feelings lie. That's why you're so upset with each other, right?"

"Baby sister, I really think this is not the time to discuss such matters. We have Amy and her baby to find," the Doctor turned to the console. They were about to finally land where Amy was and that required all of his attention.

Lena sighed but gave a nod of her head. "But are you sure you're going to be able to concentrate?"

"Oh, I'm not worried about me," the Doctor said, clearly lying but there was something else he was thinking about it. "I'm worried about you considering you're going to be stuck in here with Avalon."

Lena laughed softly. "Well, the Sapling will be here with me too."

"Oh, he's just as angry as his mother," the Doctor shook his head. The Sapling had gotten both his and Avalon's anger and that was a _very_ poor combination. He might self combust if he didn't calm down soon.

"I'll be okay with them, but to be honest..." Lena tilted her head to the side, "I don't know how long Avalon is going to last in here. She's kind of like you. Staying still isn't for her, much less when someone she loves is in danger."

The Doctor solemnly nodded. He knew that too, which was why he needed to work _fast_.

~ 0 ~

Madame Kovarian was an astute woman, not to mention an incredible actress. Her base was being overran by the Doctor and his army that foolishly thought they were winning. All she had to do was pretend to be afraid that her plan was going to ruins.

"I need to get off this station," she ordered the nearest soldier with her. "Bring me the child and prepare the Silence."

"Yes, ma'am," the soldier nodded and went off with another soldier to retrieve the infant.

"Ma'am, the Silence?" another of the soldiers reluctantly asked. None of the soldiers - none of the army for that matter - were that happy with Kovarian's decision to work with the Silence. From the very beginning they felt like the Silence would do whatever they wanted, dismissing Kovarian's orders. For the record, they hadn't _yet_ , but no one trusted those creatures. Who could trust a creature they couldn't remember?

After they'd been killed off on Earth - yet another warning from their Colonel to keep their eyes peeled when it came to the Doctor - everyone figured Kovarian was done with the Silence. After all, they'd done their part in the job. They cared for the child while she grew up. They were supposed to be over now.

"They're not done here," Kovarian rounded into a new hallway, quickening her pace each time she heard a different bullet downstairs. "The Silence has yet to retrieve the girl for me."

"But we have the child, ma'am," the soldier insisted, briefly exchanging glances with his other comrades. They were all just as nervous. "The infant. Isn't that what we needed?"

"Yes, but I want the other one too," Kovarian said and finally stopped in front of the airlock that would bring her to her own private ship. She turned around and prepared to wait for the infant to be handed over. "I cannot leave with just one."

"So the Silence are still here, then?" the soldier, just like the rest, started looking around with nervous eyes.

Kovarian smirked. "They never left. They will do the other job and bring me the girl. All we have to do now is wait. And watch." Her smirk widened at the thought of what was coming. "Watch how the Doctor will 'win' before he truly _falls_."

~ 0 ~

"This is wrong, this is wrong, this is _wrong_!" Avalon shouted at the TARDIS monitor as if the people on the other side of the screen could hear. Her hand was gripping the console in utter fury.

"Avalon, stop that," Lena scolded her sister and had to physically pry Avalon's hands off the console.

"Mother, I've never seen your face get so red!" the Sapling said and because Avalon caught his fearful face, she calmed down a bit.

"Sorry," she apologized and exhaled heavily. "I just... _I_ should be out there! I should be helping!"

"Yeah, me too," the Sapling folded his arms and pouted like only a child would. "I can literally grow up like a giant and Father still didn't let me go out!"

"First of all, you're a child," Lena wagged a finger at him. "And second of all, Avalon, you know they're just trying to help and I think you were fairly rude to the Doctor. In fact, you were horrible to him." Avalon rolled her eyes but even as she looked away, Lena could see the guilt on her face. "I don't know what the hell you were talking about in the end, but I know that _really_ hurt him."

Avalon's gaze slowly fell to the bright floor. Of course she knew she'd hurt him. That was the point. She turned back to the monitor and watched through their security feed the battle that was unfolding on the main bridge. The Doctor had disappeared after causing mass pandemonium. The strange part was that they'd lost visual on Kovarian too. She started switching through the security feed, watching Vastra the Silurian and her human wife Jenny basically kick soldiers' asses near the control room and in the next were several soldiers running down the hallway with a bassinet in hand.

"They have the baby!" she exclaimed.

Lena rushed to her sister's side, as did the Sapling, and saw the same thing Avalon had found. The bassinet bounced with each step the soldiers too. "We have to let them know!" Lena said.

Avalon moved along the console with natural speed, her fingers already knowing exactly which controls to use. Lena raised an eyebrow at her sister, her expression question enough.

"He finally taught me how to drive the TARDIS," Avalon answered quietly, momentarily pausing.

"Oh Avalon," Lena sighed. "You really have to control that tongue of yours."

Avalon blinked away the tears in her eyes and focused on getting through to someone. "Yeah, I know, I'm an outright bitch."

"I didn't say that-"

"You didn't have to," snapped Avalon, but not necessarily at her sister. It was information she already knew based on everything she had lived before coming to the TARDIS.

"Are you calling father?" the Sapling trailed after his mother, nonethewiser of the conversation around him.

"I'm trying but as usual he's not answering," Avalon groaned. "Maybe he should have a cellphone or something! Nobody's answering! Lena!" Lena flinched at the sudden call of her name. "Watch the monitor! Tell me what's going on!"

"Right!" Lena hurried back to the monitor and started going through each camera. "Uh, well, I see Rory! He's gone off with someone else in the hallway! Oh! Vastra and Jenny have gotten into the control room! Ah! Those monk things - they've nearly taken care of an entire room! Don't look Sapling." She ushered the Sapling away from the monitor. "Avalon, they brought the bassinet to Kovarian!"

"They did _what_!?" Avalon screeched. "That's it! I'm going out there!"

"No you can't!"

"The Doctor can yell at me all he wants - I deserve it, I know, but it's a _baby!_ And more importantly, it's Amy's and Rory's baby! I'm going to be good for once!" Avalon turned and dashed for the doors.

"Avalon, please don't!" Lena went after her but Avalon yanked open the doors.

"Just stay inside, Lena. You and the Sapling will be just fine in here!" Avalon smiled at her sister and child before running out.

"Oh God, my big brother's going to be very crossed with me," Lena hurried for the monitor in hopes of finding where the Doctor was at the moment. She kept going through tabs again until a Silence popped on her screen. She yelped and stumbled back as if the creature would come out from the screen. "Not you again, definitely not you again..."

' _I know you can see me, Reynolds_ ,' the fact it was actually talking to her made her yelp again. ' _You have come to us just like you're meant to. Now you will come with us. Tick, tock..."_

"Aunt Lena, he looks like the Scream," the Sapling had moved over to the monitor but as soon as he did Lena pushed him away.

"No, you stay there! And listen to me, Sapling, because right now you're the only one who's going to remember. You can't see him which means he can't affect you. Remind me that I saw him, and that he's threatening to take my sister."

"But how do you know he's talking about Mother?"

"Because it's always about my sister," Lena regrettably said. "I don't know what it is about my sister but there's always something threatening her, like-like she's just destined to be. Just remind me, okay? Remind me when I look away. We need to find the Doctor."

The Sapling nodded.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor had made his way to the control room where Vastra, Jenny and another old friend(ish) Dorium were in. They were so close to finally getting the hell out of that place, but he had to admit the dark satisfaction he felt knowing that the entire was but one step away from crumbling into nothing.

He sat in front of the controls and turned his chair just as Strax the Sontaran brought in Colonel Mantel, the leader of the army they'd basically destroyed and were now mere stragglers. "Sorry, Colonel Manton, I lied. Three minutes, 42 seconds."

"Colonel Manton, you will give the order for your men to withdraw," Strax ordered.

"No. Colonel Manton... I want you to tell your men to run away," the Doctor told the man instead.

"You...what?" Manton raised an eyebrow, not quite following.

"Those words. Run away. I want you to be famous for those exact words. I want people to call you Colonel Run-Away. I want children laughing outside your door, cos they've found the house of Colonel Run-Away," he stood up and pointed at him, "And, when people come to you, and ask if trying to get to me through the people I love... is in any way a good idea... I want you to tell them your name. Oh, look! I'm angry. That's _new_ -" his voice hardened, as did his eyes. He walked up to the man and looked him in the eyes, his lips curling into a smirk when the Colonel visibly gulped. "I'm really not sure what's going to happen now."

Two more Silurians walked into the control room and with them came Kovarian. Despite her situation, she didn't seem that upset. "The anger of a good man is not a problem. Good men have too many rules," she had the foul decency to speak.

The Doctor slowly looked back at her. He forgot about the Colonel and moved onto her instead. "Good men don't need rules. Today is not the day to find out why I have so many."

Kovarian glanced at Manton calmly. "Give the order," she surprised everyone in the room with that statement, "Give the order Colonel Run-Away."

~ 0 ~

Amy was surprised as she heard a knocking on the door. She was pretty nervous given what was going on downstairs. Quickly, she tried to find something to use for protection, "Who's that? Who's there?" she called and picked up a thermometer, eyeing it with hesitation, "You watch it, cos I'm armed and really dangerous and...cross!" Of course once she heard Rory's voice she froze, wondering if it was truly _him_. "Rory?"

"Yeah, it's me!" he called back, "Hang on a minute."

"They took her. Rory, they took our baby away," she explained with shame, feeling like it was her fault her baby had been taken away. She should have fought stronger for her daughter.

But the doors slid open to reveal Rory holding Melody in his arms. "Now, Mrs Williams...that is never, ever going to happen."

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God," Amy dashed for him and Melody. She took her daughter into her arms and quickly checked her for any visible injury. "Where's she been, what have they done to her..."

"She's fine. Amy, she's fine. I checked," Rory promised her. As soon as he had his daughter in arms, he made sure that she was safe and clear of any mark. He didn't want to let her go until he was with Amy. "She's beautiful. Oh God, I was going to be cool. I wanted to be cool. Look at me." The tears just kept pooling in his eyes.

Amy laughed at him but she was crying too. "Crying Roman with a baby, definitely cool. Come here, you!" she grabbed him with her free arm and kissed him.

The Doctor had found the room but not with a pretty view. "Ugh, kissing and crying, I'll be back in a bit."

"Oi, you," Rory snapped his fingers at him. "Get in here, now." The Doctor shrugged and happily came into the room. "My daughter. What do you think?"

The baby could barely blink at him but she did squeal, although he didn't think it was for her. She was just happy to see people that weren't so mean to her mother.

"Hello. Hello, baby," the Doctor waved at the baby girl.

"Melody," Amy cut in.

"Melody! Hello, Melody Pond! "

"Melody Williams," Rory was getting tired of the name switches.

"..is a geography teacher," Amy shook her head, "Melody Pond is a superhero!"

The Doctor leaned over to listen as Melody gurgled, "Well, yes, I suppose she does smell nice. Never really sniffed her, maybe I should give it a go. Amelia Pond, c'mere!" he hugged the new mother.

"Doctor!" she exclaimed.

"I'm sorry we were so long."

"It's OK, I knew you were coming. All of you," Amy smiled but her eyes did search behind the two men. "Well, where's Avalon? She needs to meet my daughter. She's got a lot of singing to do cos this one-" she nodded to Melody, "-likes the singing!"

"Um, Avalon's a bit indisposed right now," the Doctor's eyes flickered to the side. "Actually, I was thinking of letting her burn this place down afterwards and see if that'll cool her down."

Amy arched an eyebrow at him but since he was looking at her now, she turned her attention to Rory. "What did you two do?" she assumed they were both in on it, otherwise Rory would be upset.

"The necessary," Rory answered without hesitation. He stood by all the choices they'd made so far. "Avalon's going to be safe."

"Doctor! Take a look," Vastra entered the room, "They're leaving," and she pointed at the large glass window on the side of the room, "Demons Run is ours without a drop of blood spilled. My friend, you have never risen higher!" she cheered while the Doctor looked out and saw the army leaving the base.

Though behind him, Rory swallowed hard when he remembered River's words earlier.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor had made a hasty return to the control room, along with Vastra, when he heard Lena's voice frantically calling through the speakers. When the hell did Lena get out of the TARDIS? And if she was out of the TARDIS then Avalon...

"I'm so sorry!" Lena practically cried to him when he reached the control room. "She just...she saw the soldiers taking the baby and she ran out to help!"

"Course she would," the Doctor rubbed a hand over his face. "Okay, okay, it's fine because..." he laughed nervously, "The soldiers are leaving anyways and-and everything is safe. Everyone is safe. _She_ is safe."

"Um, Doctor?" Dorium called from his seat. "I've hacked into the software. Wasn't very complicated given that _I_ sold it to them. But I've, uh, I've found something interesting."

"More interesting than this entire place and plan of that woman's?" Lena asked, thinking it probably paled to everything they'd gone through so far. "And did you know there's Silence here? The Sapling told me that!"

"There are no Silence here, Lena," the Doctor said dismissively as he gazed at the screen.

"I thought that too but the Sapling was very adamant that I told him to remind me."

"Lena, let's focus on the plans here and then we'll see about the Silence."

Lena agreed but only because the Doctor already seemed so lost on whatever was on the screen. "So, what is it, then?"

"It's records about the child," Dorium replied. "They are very extensive."

"They've been scanning her since she was born and I think they found what they were looking for," Dorium pulled up a tab on the large screen with a DNA module.

"Human DNA," the Doctor assumed as he moved closer with Lena.

"Look closer," Vastra instructed, "Human _plus_. Specifically...human plus Time Lord."

"But that's..." Lena looked at the Doctor, "Did I get my biology wrong or..."

"She's _human_ ," the Doctor blinked, just as confused as Lena was. He didn't even know why they were having this conversation in the first place. "She's Amy and Rory's daughter."

"You told me about your people. They became what they did through prolonged exposure to the time vortex," Vastra reminded, "The untempered schism..."

"Over billions of years, it didn't just happen!"

"So how close is she? Could she even regenerate?"

"No, no! I don't think so..."

Vastra raised an eyebrow, "You don't sound so sure."

"Because I don't understand how this happened!" the Doctor snapped at her and looked back at the screen again with no clue in his mind. None of it made sense!

"Which leads me to ask... _when_ did it happen?"

"When?" Lena raised an eyebrow, "Are you really asking that?"

"I'm afraid so," Vastra nodded.

"When?" the Doctor still hadn't caught up.

"I am trying to be delicate...I know how you can blush," Vastra pointed and Lena couldn't help but giggle, "When did this baby... _begin_?"

The Doctor's face did indeed flush at the question, "Oh, you mean..."

"Quite."

"Oh c'mon you guys, you're not really gonna sit here and try to pinpoint a time of conception...are you?" Lena looked between the two, almost laughing if the situation wasn't so dire.

"She's right," the Doctor pointed at her, "That's all human-y, private stuff, it just sort of...goes on. They don't put up a balloon, or anything."

"But could the child have begun on the TARDIS, in flight, in the vortex," Vastra began.

"No, no, impossible!" the Doctor cut her off, "It's all running about, sexy fish vampires and blowing up stuff. And Rory wasn't even there at the beginning. Then he was dead, then he didn't exist, then he was plastic. Then I had to reboot the whole universe...long story. So technically the first time they were on the TARDIS together, in this version of reality, was on their..." his eyes widened as the realization struck him.

" _Oh_..." Lena had also caught up on the date.

"On their what?" Vastra dreaded to ask.

"On their wedding night," the Doctor swallowed hard, "But that doesn't make sense! You can't just cook yourself a Time Lord."

"Of course not, but you gave them one hell of a start and they've been working very hard ever since."

"And they truly have," Dorium agreed before pulling up another screen. "Kovarian's team spreads through time and space, Doctor. They've been keeping record of somebody, alright. Take a look."

The screen page he had was full of a list of names, titles, for documents. Upon a closer look, they were discovered to be videos too.

"Big brother," Lena suddenly called, her voice frail with newfound fear, "Why do all of these have my sister's name on them?"

The Doctor had noticed that detail straightaway. He didn't answer the question as instead he practically pushed Dorium's chair away to take reign over the controls. He started scrolling through the page, finding it to be endlessly filled with different videos and documents. He got more frustrated the longer the list became. Finally, his finger accidentally clicked on one title.

Avalon was a teenager, perhaps fifteen or so, and she was in her school uniform. She was angry as hell - which was confirmation that this was truly Avalon - and raging to Rory about something. The audio wasn't very comprehensible but it was clear when she managed to make a dent against a street pole with her bare fist. The act froze Avalon, and Rory, in her spot. She brought her fist, which was turning purple fast, and then checked the pole to make sure it'd been _her_ who did it.

"She was always so freakishly strong," Lena whispered, eyes fresh with tears as dread took her over.

"...as are some Time Lords," Vastra made her comment knowing the reaction she would get from the Doctor.

"Don't you even _go_ there," he pointed a finger at her face, nearly poking one of her eyes out. "I won't hear such a stupid idea, such a-a completely insane idea!"

"You said the Silence had been after you and your friends for months," Vastra continued calmly despite having the wrath of the man radiating towards her. "Who's to say that they weren't after just one of you? They already had Amy..."

"But this is _Avalon_!"

"Precisely. What exactly are her medical records?" Vastra's eyes flickered to Lena for the answer.

"U-um, well...I don't know?" the woman meekly answered, shrugging her shoulders. "I mean...I never really saw them. But..." she hated where she was going with the conversation, "There is the fact that she's adopted."

"Really?" Vastra raised a scale-green eyebrow at the Doctor. The man refused to even entertain the idea, so he turned away. "Adopted?"

"Yeah," Lena nodded her head. "I mean, we don't know who her birth mother is and we're not entirely sure if my Dad is her Dad so..."

"There _is_ a possibility that the child..." Vastra purposely didn't finish until the Doctor would finally give her the attention she needed.

"No!" he snapped at her and basically everyone in the room. "Absolutely not! Avalon is _not_ a Time Lord! She's from New Earth! She's not - she's not their daughter! I think I would have noticed if I was carrying the whole family!"

"...but would you have, though?" Lena's meek question made him pause.

He was growing angrier by the second, but his anger wasn't exactly directed at them. It was more to _himself_. If this was real, and he had missed it...he would never forgive himself. "She can't be Melody because...because her name's not even Melody," he stuttered the answer as if he was now just trying to convince himself it wasn't real.

"Pull up her records, Dorium," Vastra commanded the blue alien. "The infant's and the woman's. If they are the same, Doctor, then this is most certainly not over. In fact, don't you think this was too easy?"

The Doctor's body nearly shook. He couldn't have missed this, _no_ he couldn't have. His head was spiraling though with all the details he knew about Avalon, the ones he couldn't figure out back then.

Her insomnia?

Time Lords didn't need that much sleep. He went about a week or two without it. Avalon went days without it.

Time Lords had more strength than the average human. Avalon had always displayed her 'freakish' strength in situations. She wasn't in control of it sometimes but she always made a good show of it.

Time Lords' brains were far different than other species.

 _"I see things differently, I think differently, my brain is just...wired differently. And nobody seems to be able to catch up._ " Avalon had told him on the first day she came into the TARDIS that she felt like she was ahead of everyone else, and he _didn't_ s _ee_ it.

 _The wire_. The wire in her brain that was connected differently, that set her apart from everyone else. Why could she remember things that nobody else could? Amy and Lena forgot about the Daleks and the 27 stolen planets, but Avalon didn't. It was in the back of her mind. Amy forgot about Rory after he was erased from existence, but Avalon was _aware_ that she'd forgotten things.

"Big brother?" Lena cautiously touched his arm. He'd gone off in silence and little by little, the expression on his face changed. "What do you think?"

For a few seconds, everyone waited for him to answer.

 _She's outside of the TARDIS._ His eyes zoomed to the door. ' _In fact, don't you think this was too easy?'_ She was outside. And it was too easy.

"AVALON!" He erupted into terrified screams. He bolted out of the door and ran as fast as he could. "AVALON! AVALON!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I might be doing a little dance cos this is just getting started! I'm gonna stay tight-lipped on this until we get to the end of this episode BUT...whaddya think will happen here? Thoughts? (I've literally been working on this plot for some time now so give me a thought ;))

 **P. S:** I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	12. The Girl Who Didn't Make Sense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A second battle rages just when the Doctor thought he had finally saved the Ponds. This time, however, Kovarian promises to take more than just Melody Pond.

Avalon had found absolutely nothing except soldiers' unconscious bodies lying on the hallway ground. She had ran as fast as she could to get to that baby but there was no conscious being around. She did find a weapon on one of the soldiers that she would take...for security reasons of course. She made her way into the bridge where a collective amount of people had gathered.

"Amy?" she blinked when she saw the familiar set of ginger hair in the midst of the group. And she felt a huge wave of relief wash over her when she saw Amy carrying her baby. "Oh my God! Amy, is it really you!?"

Amy had just turned around with her daughter in arms when Rory ran to Avalon, cutting the woman off. " _What_ are you doing here!?"

Avalon would give him credit for his genuinely scary, angry face. She hardly saw that bit but this was all about his wife and daughter so...it was only fitting. "Oh don't act so surprise. We all knew my 'lock down' wasn't going to last."

"Lock down?" Amy called from where she stood, shooting eyes on her husband. "You put her on _lock down_?"

"You bet your ass he did!" Avalon scowled. "He and the Doctor! Bloody ganged up on me!"

Rory moved to end that conversation and stand directly in front of Avalon again. "Avalon, this isn't a joke! You're in danger!"

"Really? Cos I didn't see anymore soldiers," Avalon gestured to the place that was left with only a few of their allies. "It's over, we won. Or rather you guys did considering I didn't get a piece of the action."

"But-"

"Rory," Avalon put her hands on his shoulders, leveling his worried gaze, "C'mon! You've won. You got Amy and your child back!"

"Daughter," Rory corrected in a blurt, making Avalon gasp in delight.

"Oh, a baby girl! Congratulations!" she threw her arms around Rory's neck for a tight hug. She flashed a smile at Amy, letting the woman know she was next in the hugging session.

Rory couldn't possibly not accept the 'congratulations' when it came to his daughter. "Thank you," he hugged Avalon back then sighed. "And I _am_ sorry we locked you up. You know I always worry about you."

"Yeah, I know," Avalon squeezed him a bit more. "Always me...but now you've got a daughter to look after. Never mind me!"

Rory could only bob his head at that. "I'd always worry about you, Ava." He would never understand what it was that made him so protective over Avalon, but he certainly wouldn't question it. He'd always protect her.

"Oi! When do I get a hug!?" Amy called, shooting them both a frown. "I'm the one who birthed a human being!"

Avalon laughed as she pulled away from Rory. "A completely admirable doing, Miss Pond. I don't think I could ever do that!"

"Never say never," Amy gave her a pointed look. "You never know when we might have another mini-Avalon around!"

"I don't think the world could take that," Rory mumbled and promptly received an elbow on his side.

Avalon started making her way to Amy when Jenny, Vastra's human wife, walked into the room. "Everyone has left," she announced. "It's just us now." Melody began to fuss and cry in Amy's arms then. "Oh, is she alright?"

"I think she's tired," Amy gently bounced Melody to soothe. "Avalon, you don't mind taking over the singing lullabies thing, do you?"

Avalon chuckled. "Not at all! I look forward to it, actually."

"Great, because I cannot sing ' _A little fairy comes at night, h_ _er eyes are blue, her hair is brown'_ for another second!" Amy shuddered just thinking about how many times she sang that lullaby.

"What?" Avalon completely froze in her spot. Amy stopped muttering about it when she saw Avalon's face. "The-the...the Dream Fairy poem?" Amy nodded silently. "Where...where did you hear that poem from?"

Amy didn't understand why it was so important but she answered nonetheless. "My Mother used to sing it to me when I was a kid. Why?"

Avalon couldn't understand how that was possible, much less why the TARDIS - when she was in the body of Idris - would sing her that poem as if to remind her something when Amy already knew it. _Why_ would the TARDIS want her to remember a poem?

Before Avalon could think further, they heard the wheezing of the TARDIS as the blue box materialized in the room. "What?" she frowned at it.

A few seconds later, the Sapling poked his head. He beamed when he saw his mother amongst the group. "Mother!" he hopped out and ran up to Avalon, throwing his arms around her waist.

"Is that a _tree_?" Jenny whispered.

"No, this is my son," Avalon chuckled and patted the Sapling's back. "Sorry kid for leaving like that. There was another kid to save."

The Sapling gasped and pulled away from his mother, turning to Amy with the baby. "There's a baby now! Can I hold it!?" he left Avalon and ran for Amy to see the baby for himself.

"She," Amy smiled at him, slightly lowering so he could see Melody's face. "Her name's Melody. I guess you're sort of like cousins now."

"I have a cousin," the Sapling's eyes twinkled with delight. "Hi cousin Melody." Melody didn't seem afraid of the Sapling. Instead, she reached out with her small hands to touch him, making the Sapling laugh.

"Oh c'mon, I _have_ to hold her," Avalon walked towards Amy to finally see the child. She barely got a glimpse of Melody before they all heard the Doctor's screams.

"AVALON! AVALON!"

"Oh God I'm in trouble," the woman shut her eyes with a sigh. She had it coming, she knew, but she wasn't looking forward to it either. She turned around just as the Doctor and Lena came in. "Lena, you _left_ the TARDIS-"

"Don't touch her!" the Doctor yanked Avalon away from Amy, more specifically from Melody.

"What-" Avalon's eyebrows knitted together as she stumbled back. She probably would have fallen if the Doctor wasn't holding onto her arm.

"You can't touch the baby!" he said frantically. "You can't be in the same room as her!"

Avalon immediately scowled at him. Without context of his words, she didn't have much choice but to be angry with him. "Well, that's frankly offensive."

"Doctor, what are you talking about?" Amy asked, scowling herself. "She can touch my daughter-"

"- _no_ , she really can't!" the Doctor continued to shout his responses, shaking his head from Avalon to Amy and then to Rory. He was far too frantic to stay still.

"Would you let go of me!" Avalon fought to get his hand off her arm but he had a killer grip on her. "Doctor, you're hurting me! Seriously!"

He wouldn't listen until she was a safe distance away from Amy and Melody. He had made a huge mistake letting her come here and now he had to fix it. "This is wrong! You can't be here! You can't _both_ be here!"

"I'm going to slap you if you don't-"

"JUST LISTEN TO ME!" He shouted in her face, easily sending her into silence. He made a mental note to apologize for making her flinch but right now he needed to be _extra_ careful. He physically smacked his forehead twice before Avalon grabbed onto that hand. "I'm stupid! I'm so incredibly stupid for not seeing it! And now you-"

She was staring at him with wide, blinking eyes and a touch of genuine fear for his unexplained frantic state. He was breathing heavily but Avalon wasn't sure if it was from running or if it was for whatever reason he was looking at her like that. He was _scared_ but that didn't make sense. He had just won, he'd won against Kovarian and the Silence, why would he be scared?

"What's going on, Fairy Tale Man?" She gently asked him. She noticed that his hand she was holding had somehow shifted so that _he_ was now holding _her_ hand.

"Just listen to him, Avalon, please," Lena suddenly said, almost pleading too.

Avalon glanced at her sister to see her wearing more or less the same face as the Doctor. "Okay, what is going on?"

"Yeah, Doctor," Rory felt something churning in his stomach. "What's going on?"

"I, um, I...there's been a new development," the Doctor settled for the easiest words to use first. He let go of Avalon but still watched her in case she tried getting close to Amy and Melody again. "New discovery and Avalon...I'm _so_ sorry for not figuring it out sooner."

"What?" the ginger frowned. "Figured out what?" she noticed Vastra and Dorium coming in, both seeming nervous of her. "Okay, why is everybody looking at me like that? All scared and... _sad_." The only ones without those expressions were Amy and Rory. They were just as confused as she was.

"Amy, Rory, I'm so sorry," the Doctor apologized to them next. He ran his hands down his face, wanting to smack himself again. "I-I should have...I should have _noticed_! I should have _scanned_ her!"

"Doctor? What do you mean?" Amy asked him. She couldn't help feel scared herself with how he was acting.

Rory even moved over to her side and wrapped a protective arm around her waist. "Doctor, you better start talking _now_ ," he warned the Time Lord. "What do you mean ' _scan_ ' her'? Do you mean Melody?"

"Your daughter," the Doctor exhaled a shaky breath. He glanced at Avalon sadly, making her even more nervous. "I should have scanned you whether you liked it or not. Then we could've avoided this. Your past would've been better."

"Scan me?" she brought her arms around herself, suddenly self conscious as if he would do it right now. "Why on Earth would you ever want to do that?"

"Because I should have. I _knew_ there were things about you that were off and I should've done more but I didn't. I didn't because you asked me not to but the thing is...sometimes I have to make the hard decisions and I would've taken this one if it meant helping you."

"Okay Doctor, now you're really scaring me," Avalon briefly glanced at her sister and saw Lena was close to crying. "Just tell me what's going on!"

"Avalon," the Doctor gently took hold of her and because she had no idea what was going on, she easily slid between his arms. "I know who your mother is...and your father..."

Avalon's face immediately fell, but two seconds later the anger was writing itself across her face. "I told you I didn't want to know."

"I know," the Doctor whispered, letting himself be closer to her. He rested his forehead against hers, closing his eyes for a moment. "And I didn't look on purpose, it just came up. But you know what? Your parents, your real parents, they are wonderful. And they love you so much." And if things went the wrong way again, she wouldn't be able to grow up with them...grow up with the best parents on Earth. Amy and Rory.

"I don't want to know," Avalon pulled away from him, her frown deepening by the second. "They abandoned me."

"I suppose they did, but that was all on your Mother, not us," a new voice rang throughout the room, but it was a voice that the Doctor knew very well.

On instinct, he pulled Avalon to his side and kept his arm wrapped securely around her. At the same time, Rory tightened his hold on Amy's side and kept her and Melody within his reach.

Koavarian appeared on a large screen above them. She was smirking with pride, knowing she was about to take her win. "Do you understand yet? Oh, don't worry, I'm a long way away, but I'm not done yet. The child then...what do you think?"

"You are _never_ touching her again," the Doctor promised her and held Avalon impossibly close. She didn't mind resting against his chest but surely there could be a better, more private, time for this. She fixated a deeply puzzled look on him. There was a darkness in his eyes settled on that woman but Avalon dared to think it wasn't out of just anger, it was for _her_. Avalon didn't understand why he was so protective over her right now. If anything, he should be focusing on Melody right now. She was the one in danger!

Kovarian's smirk just widened. She knew exactly what the Doctor was thinking. "Really? Because you did see some of our videos right? I have done far more than just hold 'Melody' captive. I've gone above and beyond to make sure this war is won by _us_."

"War against who?"

"Against you, Doctor."

"That child is not a weapon! She could never be!"

"With time, she will be."

"Except you've already lost her, and I swear I will never let you anywhere near her again." The Doctor turned slightly away, shielding Avalon from Kovarian's sight. He pressed a kiss to Avalon's head, murmuring an 'I'm sorry' to her that she heard perfectly. "I'm sorry, Avalon. I'm really sorry."

"Sorry about _what_?" Avalon was tired of asking the same question without getting an answer.

"Oh, Doctor," Kovarian laughed mockingly. "Fooling you once was a joy... but fooling you twice, the same way, it's a _privilege_. And this time, I get to take a gift with me too. My rightful gift."

"What is she talking about?" Amy dreaded the answer by the look of evil in the woman's eyes. She held Melody closer to her. "What have you done?"

Kovarian smirked just before the lights suddenly went out. Everyone went into panic wondering what was coming for them now.

"Sapling!" Avalon thought of her tree child but she didn't make one step towards him when she felt the Doctor's grip on her tighten. "Hey! What are you doing!?"

"Lena!" he instead called for.

Lena hurried to get the Sapling on her side and just when she did, she began to hear a soft song, a hymn that was getting closer and closer. A white light appeared around the TARDIS like a ring.

"A force field," Vastra realized just before they heard the sound of locks clicking. "And I'm assuming those are the doors. Lovely."

"Is that the Monks?" Rory had caught sight of the swishing robes after the lights came back.

"Oh, dear God. That's the attack prayer!" Dorium cried hysterically.

They were trapped. Yet another trap.

The Doctor sucked in a sharp breath and continued to hold Avalon, despite not knowing how they were going to get out of this one. He couldn't understand what Kovarian wanted now but he wasn't letting Avalon out of his sight and much less out of his arms.

Avalon screamed first when she saw the jet of energy coming their way. She ducked and pulled the Doctor with her. "I need my gun, stat!" she yelled on the floor.

"You need to hide!"

"No!" she promptly refused and used the chaos to get free from him. She jumped on her feet and picked up her weapon she'd stolen earlier.

"No! Avalon, no!" the Doctor scrambled to get up and catch her, but he was spiraling again. There were bullets being fired all around. He had Lena and the Sapling crying to dodge the deadly fires. He had Avalon putting herself in danger and then baby Melody crying in her mother's arms!

"NOOO!" Amy let out a blood-curling scream from her spot, Rory doing practically the same when he realized what had happened.

The Doctor turned to them to see baby Melody had turned into a Flesh puddle. As he took a step towards them, he heard Avalon scream and spun around again. However, she'd witnessed Dorium getting his head cut off by one of the monks.

Amy continued to sob. Her baby had turned into Flesh right in her arms. Rory was paralyzed in his spot; all he was able to do was stare at the puddle that was once his daughter - a copy of his daughter. Chills ran through his body when he realized that if Melody wasn't there with them...she was somewhere else, somewhere no doubt far away from them.

Amy cried and shook her head. "They have her! They have her!" She had held her daughter all this time and never once realized that she was a Flesh ganger. What kind of mother was she!?

"I've been wounded!" Strax the Sontaran yelled with a grunt to follow.

A few feet away from him, Vastra had also been detained with a sword to her neck.

Jenny soon followed.

The only one left was Avalon but she knew when to call it. She lowered her gun and glanced at the Doctor, then to Amy and Rory. "Maybe we lost."

_"The Reynolds girl, we need her,"_ cane the familiar hiss of the Silence.

Lena gasped when she saw one lone Silence make its way through the Monks. She pulled the Sapling behind her but when she stared at the Silence, she began to remember the favor she asked. "I remember! You were on the monitor!"

"I told you!" the Sapling exclaimed. "You told me to remind you!"

"I did, I'm so sorry!"

"What do you want with me?" Avalon scowled. Behind her, the Doctor was carefully making his way towards her. He still had one chance to save her and he would do it even if it cost him his life.

" _You will complete your part in the war."_

"Yeah?" Avalon raised her gun again. "Make me."

The Doctor took his chance and pulled her behind him. "Now you listen to me and you listen well: you are never going to touch her. Do you understand that? I don't know where you took her younger version but I swear to you that I will find her. And when I do, you better _run_ because I will not hesitate to _end_ you."

Avalon blinked at him. She'd never heard him so... _furious._ And it wasn't the shouting type of angry that he got every so often, it was the eerie quiet anger. It was the one that, honestly, could scare her. There were stories about him when he became the _Oncoming Storm_ , but she'd never actually _seen_ him. Of course, then there were his specific choice of words that caught her attention. "What did you just say? Younger version?"

The Doctor wouldn't look away from the Silence, but he did nod at her. "I'm sorry, Ava. This is my fault. Melody...she's...she's..."

" _The Reynolds girl, or you all die."_

"Never," the Doctor reiterated, teeth gritted.

" _Then you will all die and we'll still take the girl."_

"W-wait!" Avalon scrambled to get in-between the two groups, each of her arms held out to keep them back. "You want...you just want _me_?"

The Silence gave a nod of his head big, gray head. " _We have no necessity for anyone else."_

"...will you take me where Melody is? Will I be with her?"

" _In a sense_."

Avalon's eyes gazed over to Amy and Rory, both hugging each other in distraught over their missing daughter. She had an opportunity...

"Avalon, no," the Doctor warned her once he realized what she was thinking. "You can't do that."

She briefly smiled at him, but it was a facade to hide her fear. "She's all alone, she's just a _baby_. Rory's done so much for me, he's always tried protecting me...now it's time I do something for him. I can try to protect his daughter."

"Avalon!"

Avalon ignored his cries as she turned to face the Silence. She swallowed hard as she took a few steps towards it and the Monks. "I surrender."

" _Lower the weapon,_ " the Silence commanded.

Avalon slowly lowered her gun to the floor then immediately raised her hands. Her body trembled as the Silence walked towards her. Did it look bigger or was that just her? She wasn't sure.

"Avalon, please don't do that!" Lena wanted to run towards her sister, but that would be no use. The Silence might hurt Avalon right there and then.

"Mother!" the Sapling cried like a true child seeing his mother in danger. Lena kept a good hold on him too, but she doubted she could handle the Sapling if he decided to grow again.

"Avalon, you get away from that thing!" Rory snapped, bringing out his sword as if he would duel the Silence right there and then.

"It'll be fine," Avalon assured them all contradicting watery eyes. "I'll be fine." But just as she said those words, the Silence lowered its head far too close to her face, making her audibly whimper. She turned her head slightly in hopes of not having to look at the ugly creature.

" _You should have the good sense to be afraid_ ," it warned her.

"Oh don't be fooled. I am very afraid," she whispered. "But I can't be more afraid than Melody is and that's why I'm surrendering. That and because you swore you would spare their lives. Right?" she found the last bit of courage inside to glare at the creature.

"Of course."

"Avalon, you can't go with them! She's you!" the Doctor blurted as a last resort to get her back. "Melody! She's you! You're Melody!"

Avalon cried when the Silence spun her around to face the others. She was _terrified_.

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" the Doctor screamed just as loud as her and charged for them, only stopping when the Silence threatened Avalon by the neck. Electricity sparked over its long fingers. "You _can't_ take her. You can't have two of the same person in the same room! Listen to me!"

"Doctor, what do you mean she's Melody?" Rory asked from his spot next to Amy. "She's Avalon..."

"He doesn't know what he's saying anymore," Avalon reasoned, trying to give the Doctor a little smile. "It's okay, it's okay...I'll get her back."

"No, you can't," the Doctor dejectedly said. "Because you're her. She's you. You're Melody Pond."

"Doctor don't say that," Avalon wanted to laugh but his earnest face made her go still. Her eyes flickered to Amy and Rory and looked them over. "I can't be..."

"She's not," agreed Amy, though she swallowed a lump as new tears threatened to rise. "Because if she's Avalon then they really get to keep her."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor told all of them, bowing his head in shame and guilt. "It's my fault. I didn't look...I let it happen. I'm _really_ sorry-"

A flash of light blinded the group for a moment and when it faded, River Song appeared holding every big gun in her hands. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" She screamed and strode, sprinted, towards the stand off.

"River!" the Doctor angrily called her name, forgetting momentarily what he'd been saying. Seeing the woman reminded her that they could've had a far different ending if she'd bothered to show up. " _Now_ you choose to show up!? Where the hell have you been? You know, every time you've asked, I have been there!"

"I didn't have a choice!" River barked almost in the same tone he used on her. She came to stand next to him, only a step ahead, and took aim on the Silence. "I told you to keep her inside the TARDIS. _This_ could be rewritten."

"Don't blame him, River. I do what I want," Avalon said but soon lost her courage when she felt the Silence put one of its long hands on her shoulder. She cringed as she felt the coldness from it prick her skin.

Seeing that made River frantically take aim again. "You let her go right now or so help me I _will_ shoot you. I want _blood_ for what you did to her."

"River put it down," the Doctor's tone was dark but there was no mistaking the fear underlying his words. One wrong move and she could accidentally shoot Avalon. He tried lowering the gun for her but she bad quite the strength too. Actually, it was a bit _too_ strong.

"Doctor, you know that I don't blame you for any of this but..." River was gritting her teeth as hard as she was holding her gun. "This has you written all over it."

Well, it was hard not to take offence. "This - this wasn't me!"

"Of course it is!" she snapped. She kept her eyes locked on Avalon, torturing herself to see how terrified Avalon was. "This was exactly you. All this, all of it. You make them so afraid. When you began, all those years ago, sailing off to see the universe, did you ever think you'd become _this_? The man who can turn an army around at the mention of his name? Doctor?"

"River you stop that right now," Avalon scowled at the woman. "This wasn't him. It's not his fault - Doctor, it's not your fault. We all make choices and this is my choice."

"LET HER GO!" River's scream echoed throughout the room, her body trembling more as she yelled. But still nothing happened. Avalon was still in their clutches.

"River, let that go!" the Doctor still argued with her. "You're going to hurt her!"

River's eyes glistened as she humorlessly laughed. "I wouldn't ever hurt her, never her."

" _This has gone long enough,"_ the Silence spoke up. " _We are done. As are you, Doctor. The next time you see us, it will be on your deathbed."_

River knew exactly what was going to happen. She needed to act. "LET HER GO NOW!"

"Doctor, before I go, if it's the last time I see you..." Avalon licked her lips nervously, both from the Silence with her and for the words she was about to say.

"It's not the last time," the Doctor promised her. He discreetly took a step towards her and then another, hoping that he could reach her - he just needed one hand of hers - and pull her to his side where he could protect her. "Don't be silly Ava, you'll be just fine..."

The only reason Avalon still smiled was because she was given the chance to have one last look at him. "I really do feel the same. I'm just terrible at expressing myself 90% of the time."

"You don't have to say anything, we'll have loads of time to talk," the Doctor's last step was taken before the Monks aimed their swords at him. He froze with a gulp, eyes switching between them and Avalon. She was still too far away.

"Your ganger said it all, don't worry," Avalon continued, biting her lower lip. Her cheeks were red - it was probably the last time she would have the luxury of having that feeling - and chuckled. "I'm happy I heard it once. That's all I wanted. Doesn't matter who I am...if it's true...I mean what I said. Thank you."

"Avalon, please stop talking like that," the Doctor begged her to just stay quiet. He would be able to think quicker on a way to take her back.

"This is the last time I'm saying it: let her go!" River prepared to finally shoot the Silence and the Monks. She hated the way Avalon was talking - like this is where her life would end - and River would not let those bastards have the satisfaction of breaking her down.

" _Lower your weapon before you are killed as well,_ " the Silence's warning towards her was the last straw.

River clicked the back of the gun, giving it her last warning that now was the moment. "Try me!"

"RIVER!" the Doctor had enough time to yell her name before she fired. "No, no! Avalon!" he made a beeline for the woman even if it meant getting hit himself. He heard Lena and the Sapling cry after him to stop. He saw Avalon shouting at him to stay away, but he couldn't process their orders. He could mostly hear the pounding of his blood in his ears. _Nothernothernothernother_. His mind was all jumbled up but he knew his goal: keep Avalon safe. Always her. She couldn't be on that list too; the list that too many people he cared for ended up in. But his legs weren't fast enough to get him to Avalon. Before he could reach her, she disappeared with the Silence.

"NOO!" he fell to his knees, stunned that he'd been so close and yet she was so far away now. And now she was gone. She was out of his reach and God knew where they'd taken her.

The noise that came out of River behind him was completely incomprehensible. She took aim again and shot down every remaining Monk until Rory was able to snatch her gun.

"Avalon! My Avalon!" River felt herself go down but Lena was at her side suddenly, helping her stay on her feet.

"River, you gotta stop," she said, but River shook her head.

"They took her, they took her...they took my Avalon," River brought a hand to her face. She tried being here just at the right time, when Time would allow her to be, to save Avalon...but she failed. She had failed at so many things in her life but she honestly thought that this one time she could change things. She thought she could save Avalon from what was to come and...and finally do one good thing for her. But, she didn't. She failed.

She broke down.

That sight was a _huge_ novelty. It was what pulled the Doctor out of his own trance. He turned his head back and watched her cry, her body nearly convulsing from the strength of her sobs. She almost sounded like Amy a couple minutes ago. Like a _mother._

The Doctor got up fairly fast and took one stride towards River. He swiped the gun Avalon had left behind on the ground and came straight up to River...and pointed the gun at her. The mere act had all his friends gasp. "Get up _now_ ," he ordered darkly, leaving no room for questioning. River obeyed but that didn't stop her tears. Still, she raised her head to meet the Doctor's gaze, and the gun that was only a couple inches from her face.

"Big brother, put that down," Lena whispered as she did her best to shield the Sapling from such a view. She'd never seen him do _that_ , none of them had, and she wasn't interested in seeing it start now.

The Doctor did not listen. Instead, his hand curled tighter around the weapon. He was _heartbroken_ and _furious_ like he'd never been before. Such an incredible woman had just been taken from his grasp and despite it being his fault, he was sure that it was also River's fault. He should have listened to Octavian's words back on the Byzantium. The man had warned him to keep River away from Avalon and he hadn't listened. "Who the hell _are_ you?" the Doctor demanded from River, his tone ice cold. "And this time you better answer because I am _done_ saving your ass every time you call. I've allowed you into my home, I've allowed you to be around my friends even when I had no idea who you were. I've tolerated your cryptic comments, your snide comments, your sarcasm. I've tolerated everything about you, but no more. The _one_ time I asked for your help you stayed away and now _my_ Ava is gone. Melody is gone. She's _gone_. Who. Are. You?"

Anyone else would've shrunk under his intense, dark glare, but River had seen much worse. She had seen him do the same thing to others for endangering Avalon, but the stare was always worse. This...this was just where it began. It didn't scare her; it reminded her that Avalon was in good hands. His gun had no effect on her because she knew that he would never use it. He was just as upset as she was. They shared the same pain, whether he realized it or not.

River looked at Amy and Rory, even more distraught to find that their friend and daughter were gone together. "Melody will come back," she told them. Their gazes immediately fixated on her. Their confusion and hope was all too familiar. "Just not in the way you hope. She will be fine, eventually. And I'm so sorry that I couldn't do anything but now _you_ can do something for her. You can do something for Melody."

"But...but is Melody really Avalon?" Amy chewed on her lower lip. Something about it wasn't settling right. "Is she...has she always been my daughter and I never saw it?"

River smiled softly. "You always noticed. Just like Rory always noticed. It's so funny how blood calls blood."

"START. TALKING!" the Doctor roared her, but she still didn't flinch.

"I _am_ ," she assured him. "Just listen. And keep holding that weapon if you'd like. Amy? Do you have that, um, that prayer leaf that the soldier gave you?"

"How do you know about that?" Amy arched an eyebrow at her. She reached inside her pant's pockets and pulled an emerald green fabric that'd been sewn into a leaf. A soldier had given it to her just before everything started. Her name was Lorna, Amy wanted to believe.

" _River,_ " the Doctor's tone warned her that he wasn't going to stand for much longer.

"I'm getting there, I swear," she told him before reaching to take Amy's prayer leaf. "This was made by the soldier, right?" Amy nodded. River gazed down at the alien words written in a beautiful golden thread. "She's from the Gamma Forests. And do you know that they don't have a word for Pond? Because the only water in the forest is the river?" She met Amy's gaze with a soft smile. "That's _my_ name. Pond. Melody Pond. _I'm_ your daughter."

Amy's eyes widened but of course she wouldn't believe that nonsense so quick. "That's not...that's not... _Rory_!"

At her frantic call, Rory was at her side and he was giving River the same disbelieving stare. "But the Doctor just said she was Av-"

"A natural guess," River turned slightly to the Doctor and held the prayer leaf for him to see. The TARDIS translator matrix had kicked in. The golden thread read 'River Song'. "But she's not."

The fury on the Doctor's face _had_ to falter once he saw it. His eyes looked her over with the briefest of suspicions. His TARDIS did not lie to him, ever. The gun in his hand slightly lowered to better see her. "You're...?"

River nodded. "Hello," she offered a smile, a clean smile that could start their record clean. But it was mixed with a crestfallen feeling that nobody could deny.

"But I thought... _Avalon_ was..."

"Me?" River chuckled. "Thank God, right? She's like me, but not all and that's good because the world can barely handle us how we are. She's _better_ than me, the _best_ of me."

"I don't understand, I thought Avalon was Melody," Lena said, close to crying herself. One moment they were under the belief that Avalon was Amy's and Rory's daughter and now...

"She's my daughter," River finally said, and proudly too. She loved being able to say it out loud, because there were plenty of times that she wasn't able to due to the time lines. "Avalon's my daughter. All those times you've wondered why she could remember things that nobody else could, why she felt like things moved too slow for her...this is why. She's an impossible girl, a girl who doesn't make sense. Her mind works differently because she's the first of her kind. The duck pond?"

A small noise slipped through the Doctor's mouth. "The duck pond..." he whispered. The bloody duck pond. No one else in Leadworth questioned why a pond was called a 'duck pond' if there were never any ducks around. The very first clue that Avalon wasn't like the other humans and her evolutionized species.

"She's your daughter?" the Doctor asked, but it was mostly to say it out loud and see how that fit. And to his surprise, it did. It explained the reasons why River was so hellbent keeping her secrets, secrets. He had no doubt that the way Avalon was born wasn't a linear thing; the time lines had to be lived in a specific way for Avalon to continue existing. Those moments of River's protectiveness over Avalon was just another clue that the Doctor hadn't noticed. All this time Avalon had been next to her mother and none of them had ever realized.

And then there were the traits in Avalon.

Avalon had River's love for adrenaline, the danger. Countless times Avalon had proved that it called to her and that she was _ready_ for it. She was a force to be reckoned with and it stemmed from the fact that her mother was like that too.

She had the _curly hair._ That alone should have been the Doctor's first clue. The same mess! He inwardly chuckled. Plus, Avalon loved weapons. She loved wielding them and she had a knack for them too. And the smugness. My God did Avalon love being smug around him whenever she got the chance.

And yes, she was a bit like Amy and Rory too. All those times when she and Amy shared the same glares it's because they _were_ the same glare. The Doctor wanted to smack himself because once again, he had everything in front of him and he didn't _notice_! He _did_ carry the whole family in the TARDIS. He carried the grandparents and their granddaughter.

"She's your daughter," he finally declared, no doubt left in his mind. He suddenly blinked at the gun in his hand as if he'd only just now realized he was holding it. He let it drop to the ground.

River nodded. "Yes, she is. And despite your reservations about me you have to know that I love her. She is the only thing that keeps me sane after everything I've gone through. And you have to understand that she's the reason I was always so cryptic around you. I had to be very careful about what I said and what I did around you all. One wrong word and Avalon goes poof!"

The Doctor's eyes widened in alarm. "No poof! _Absolutely_ no _poof_!" If all this was true - which it probably was - then River was right. She had to be severely careful how she acted around their younger versions and what she said to them. One wrong move or word could rewrite history and suddenly Avalon would cease to exist. A world without Avalon Reynolds is a world the Doctor didn't want to live in! Ever!

"Exactly," River smiled knowingly. "The only other person who loves her as much as I do is _you,_ although not right now suppose. Not _yet_." Her smile turned into a smirk when his face turned red.

"But I, I..." the Doctor thought to all of the moments he shared with Avalon, some of them the ones where he nearly _kissed_ her. "She's _your_ daughter..." River would've laughed if they weren't in such a situation.

"Now wait a minute!" snapped Amy. "First of all, you all thought Avalon was _our_ daughter!? Doctor!"

"How could you think that!?" Rory chimed in next.

"Can you blame them, father?" River chuckled again and missed the way Rory looked at her for calling him 'father'. That would definitely take some getting used to. "You always doted on her too much, you know? Plus, she has the signature Williams eyes. They're my eyes because they're _your_ eyes."

Rory was speechless as was Amy. He wanted to say so many things but he couldn't string the words together. There were too many revelations right now. "Hold on, this is what the TARDIS meant. The TARDIS - when she was Idris - she said all of this! And we didn't see it! The only water in the forest is the river and that Harmony is part of the Melody."

"I gave her that name," River chuckled. "Harmony. I thought it'd be nice to keep the the music theme going. A little part of the Ponds."

"Oh my God," Rory shut his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "Avalon is our granddaughter."

"But I just _became_ a Mother," Amy was in a similar predicament.

"Congratulations, you're a grandmother now too," River flashed them an apologetic smile.

"No, this is wrong," Lena snapped and surprised them with it because she hardly ever snapped. She stormed up to River and glared her very first deepest glare. "If you're my sister's mother then _you_ abandoned her! You _left_ her!"

"Lena," it was now the Doctor who had to calm her down.

"No!" Lena snapped at him too, waving his hand off her. "You know this whole time Avalon's always thought that her birth mother _abandoned_ her because you didn't want her!?"

"That's not true," River's eyes garnered new tears. "That was never true. I didn't abandon her, I gave her up because she couldn't live the life that I had to. And giving her up was the _hardest_ thing I ever had to do in my life. But you know what? I don't want to explain that right now - what I want right now is for somebody to bring me my daughter back!"

"Oh I'm on it!" the Doctor was quick to volunteer.

"What about Melody?" Amy swallowed hard, looking more or less like River in regards to tears. "What happens to her?"

The Doctor paused to think about things. Now _he_ would have to be extra careful in how he managed things. There was to be no 'poof' on his watch. "Right, right, to have Avalon I need to strategically extract Melody-"

"-no, you have to leave me be," River said fast, urgently too. "My story is already written and it needs to stay exactly the way it is."

"But River-" Amy hurried towards her, but River refused.

_"No,_ mother," she gritted her teeth, "If you find Melody before the proper time then the timelines would be rewritten and _my_ daughter would cease to exist. She's not a human like you nor I, she wasn't born on Earth, her father isn't from this Earth. The timelines are crucial. If one thing about my past changes then Avalon ceases to exist and I would rather _die_ than see that happen."

Amy slightly winced at the last part and the tone used, such certainty and...well, love. A mother's love for their daughter. A love that she herself felt for a month with her own baby. She could see the urgency and plead in River's eyes, the necessity for things to be done this way just so that her own daughter could return safely. "You really _are_ a mother," Amy concluded with a small, proud smile. New tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I haven't been a good one but I do try," River took a deep breath and looked at the Doctor, "Will you do it, please? Bring back my daughter?"

"You mean my feisty Ava?" the Doctor smirked, "You just watch me," he headed for the TARDIS, taking down the white barrier around it, "River, get everyone back home and-"

"I'm coming with you," Lena declared earnestly as she walked towards the blue box, "And before you tell me anything I'll stop you right here. My sister has been taken and I won't take no for answer."

"And me too!" the Sapling scurried after the Doctor. "I want to help find Mother and bring her back!"

"Oh God the Sapling's technically our great-grandchild," Rory whispered with widened eyes. He'd gone from a father to a grandfather to a great-grandfather...

"Oh alright, fine," the Doctor wasn't in any mood to argue a lost battle. He'd lost too much already. "Come along! River, get everybody home!"

"Doctor, you can't leave us like this!" Amy meant to run after him but River caught her by the arm.

"I'm coming back, Pond. I've got _two_ Ponds to find!" he suddenly laughed at when he realized something new. He raised four of his fingers and threw his head back with the excitement only _he_ could have right now. "I've got _four_ Ponds now!"

"And one Reynolds," Lena raised a finger. She supposed technically speaking, Avalon _was_ a Pond. That would be interesting to explain. "Wait, River, who's Avalon's father?"

River's eyebrows raised together, her mouth opening for a brief second before closing it. "You know what, Lena, if you don't mind...I think I'm going to hold off on that. Avalon will find out on her own."

"And what about you, then? When does she learn about you? _Does_ she ever learn who you are?" Lena watched River lower her head. "Oh, fine, don't say anything then!"

"Spoilers," River could only leave it at that.

"And the letter, then?" the Doctor called after opening the TARDIS door for the Sapling and Lena. "If the cards are all on the table, will you admit to that now?" Because there was no reason for her to continue lying about it since they all knew her secret. "You wrote it, didn't you?"

"What letter?" Lena asked them and expected a full answer. She was done with secrets around her sister.

Before the Doctor could answer, River explained with her eyes fixated on the Doctor. "Somebody left a letter for Avalon outside of Amy's and Rory's wedding reception. It warned Avalon that something was coming for her - all _this_ \- and that she should stay with the Doctor to be safe. And of course the Doctor think that _I_ wrote it."

"Did you?" the Doctor pressed for the answer.

" _No_ , I did not," she answered without ever taking her eyes off him.

As much as the Doctor looked at her and studied her eyes, there was nothing that would make him consider she was lying. She was telling him the truth. "But if you didn't write the letter, who did?"

River just smiled lightly, indicating that she knew alright who was behind the mysterious letter. "You'll eventually know...you'll just have to wait a couple centuries."

"River..." Lena scowled.

"It doesn't matter!" the Doctor waved it off. He had two Ponds and he wouldn't waste time on some letter-writer! "I gotta run!"

"Yes, you do," River nodded him to go. "Keep her safe."

When the TARDIS disappeared, River exhaled a shaky breath then turned to her parents. What else could they do besides awkwardly smile at each other with the same tears in their eyes? She shrugged her shoulders just to do _something_ because she had no idea what to do now.

Amy didn't speak at all. She just pulled her daughter into a tight hug. There was nothing else to do but _wait_ \- the rite of passage for a Pond.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

BAM.

I have been waiting to reveal that ever since the last story! Been my longtime secret! Avalon is _not_ Amy's and Rory's daughter, she's their _granddaughter_! River is her mother! I've been waiting to see if anyone guessed it and I don't know if it was good that nobody noticed it?

And has anyone come up with a guess for who wrote that letter? Tee hee, another of my secrets!

Next chapter we'll get a closer look at who Avalon is! Plus, the return of two old faces! Can you guess?

**P. S:** I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	13. An Impossible Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor digs deeper into Avalon's backstory and learns that some old friends researched her first and discovered the impossible.

Ryland Reynolds was distraught when he learned that his daughter had been taken by the very people he worked so hard to hide her from. He didn't even care that the Doctor and Lena - and everyone else for that matter - discovered who Avalon's mother really was. He only knew that Avalon was gone.

"I thought letting her go off with you would be a lot better than keeping her here!" he shouted at the Doctor, although it wasn't to show anger _towards_ the Time Lord. He was angry at the situation. "But how the hell was I supposed to know that you two-" he let a hand wildly gesture at Amy and Rory, "-were going to turn out to be her _grandparents_!? What kind of...?" he couldn't even finish the right words to describe how ridiculous this entire situation was.

"Daddy," Lena said once his father had fallen back on their couch. He was overwhelmed, and with good reason too. After a few days of searching for Avalon and Melody, the Doctor decided to go back to the beginning - the very beginning - in Avalon's timeline for some helpful resources. And who knew about the very beginning of Avalon's existence?

Ryland Reynolds.

As of right now, he was the only person they could talk to about Avalon's background. River was too much of a complicated space-time event to get information from. As she pointed out, she had to keep the timelines just the way they were in order for Avalon to exist.

"Believe me, it was a shock to us too," Rory muttered lowly. He held Amy beside him, just like he had from the moment they'd been dropped back on Earth by River. They were at a loss for words and the only thing(s) that could make it better was to find Melody and Avalon.

"So let me get this straight," Ryland rubbed his forehead a bit too hard that Lena physically lowered his hand, "You two are River Song's parents? And she was kidnapped by the Silence? The Silence Order or whatever they're called."

"Yeah," Amy muttered just like Rory. "So if there's anything you can tell us, please do. I'm begging you."

"Anything will do," the Doctor agreed. He was taking a look at the pictures adorning the fireplace. They were the same pictures he saw the first night he had come back for Avalon. How quickly things changed. "I need anything you have to conduct a thorough search."

"Well, like what?" Ryland asked.

"Maybe start with how you got Avalon in the first place?" Lena softly asked. It was the burning question she had all her life. "Is she your daughter? Or are you her adoptive Dad too?"

"Lena..." Ryland sighed and brought his hand to his ginger hair. "I think that's a conversation I need to have with Avalon first."

"No, it's really not," the Doctor turned away from the fireplace with a picture frame in hand. "Because as I said, anything you have I need to know in order to find Avalon and Melody. And I know for a fact that she-" he showed Ryland the frame he held which turned out to be Emmalina Reynolds with both Avalon and Lena as toddlers, "-is not Avalon's mother. I should have seen it the first time I was here."

"But she _is_ Avalon's mother," Ryland took the frame into his hands and gazed fondly at the picture. "Emmalina didn't care that Avalon wasn't hers. She treated Avalon the same as Lena and Gavin. She was her mother."

"No, she really wasn't," Amy glowered at the man although just like him earlier, she wasn't mad at _him_ but at the situation. River was Avalon's mother and like herself, River didn't get the chance to see her daughter grow up. She swallowed hard when a new thought came to her mind: who did Melody call Mother right now? Did she have anyone around who was like a Mother?

Ryland seemed to understand where Amy was at. "I'm sorry. I don't personally know River Song. I knew of her back then. But I promise you that Emmalina was a good Mother to Avalon."

"And you?" the Doctor eyed Ryland studiously. "Were you a good 'father'?"

"Apparently not since I let her get captured anyways," Ryland shook his head. "Look, you want to know the truth? Fine, I'm not Avalon's father. She's not my daughter but I love her as if she was."

"But Mum didn't know," Lena said quietly, her voice frail as she remembered the argument she once overheard her parents having when she was young. "That's why she was mad at you the day I heard it all. She was asking you if Avalon was your daughter and you didn't tell her."

"I wish you hadn't heard all that sweetheart," Ryland sighed. "I loved Emmalina but I couldn't tell her anything about Avalon's background. It was to keep her and Avalon safe. That way if the Silence ever found us, they'd only want me."

"Daddy, no..." Lena scooted closer to her father, terrified at just the idea of the Silence coming for her father too. "So then...so then Avalon really _is_ adopted. She get to grow up with either of her parents."

"Not exactly," the Doctor suddenly said, sounding too certain for someone who was meant to be searching for information on the matter. He had returned to the fireplace and picked up a specific picture frame.

"What do you mean?" Rory practically demanded. "Doctor, you promised anything you learned you would tell us."

The Doctor nodded. He remembered and he would keep his word. He turned around again and showed them another picture: a teenage Avalon and Lena with their younger brother Gavin. "The nose."

"What?" went the Ponds and Lena.

Even if the Doctor had an inkling of doubt, he got the confirmation from Ryland who hadn't looked remotely surprised by his two words. "She has the nose," he came back to the group and carelessly tossed the frame over to Rory. "She doesn't have your nose."

Rory's face went flat. "Are we really going to do those jokes again?"

"No, no, look closer," the Doctor scurried over like a child to show him what he meant. He snatched the frame from Rory and specifically tapped at Avalon's nose then Lena's and finally Gavin's. "She has their nose."

"Okay, what are you talking about?" Amy took the frame with a sigh. "She's got whose nose?"

"Lena's and Gavin's," the Doctor gestured back to Lena who was now touching her nose questionably. "Avalon has the same nose as Lena and Gavin. They're not siblings but they _are_ related." His eyes flickered to Ryland for the last confirmation. "Aren't they?"

Lena's eyes widened as she glanced at her father. Ryland had on a straight face when he nodded. "Daddy, what do you mean?"

"She's my niece," he finally confessed. "Avalon is my niece. She's my brother's daughter."

"Brother...?" Lena whispered then gasped. "Uncle Oliver! He's your only brother! Is Avalon his...?"

Ryland nodded again. "Oliver was my younger brother," he started to explain for the other's benefit. "He was studying at a university in the 51st century..."

"Your native time," Amy realized. Like she always said, it was hard to remember that Avalon and the Reynolds weren't from the present Earth. They were all from the 51st century.

"And let me guess," the Doctor came around the coffee table to stand in front of Ryland, "That's where he met Melody - no, sorry, River."

"Yeah," Ryland sighed. "I never met her but from what Oliver used to tell me, she was a wild one. I told him to stay away cos he wanted to study. He wanted to be a musician. Go figure."

A small smile spread across Lena's face as a new realization struck her. "That's where Avalon's singing voice comes from. Uncle Oliver."

"Oliver used to sing all the time, it was unbearable," Ryland groaned but laughed at the memories. "Every time I heard Avalon sing, it was like I was hearing Oliver...only Avalon sounded a better." The tears were quick to form in his eyes.

"What happened to him?" the Doctor asked. Avalon didn't seem to know much about her 'uncle' when she described him from the photo album the Sapling had been looking at a while back. "Avalon said he passed away but...that was all she knew."

"Because that's all _I_ knew," Ryland admitted with guilt. "To this day I still don't know how it was that he died. The university said it was some break in or something. He got caught in it. But I _know_ that something else happened to him."

"Kovarian?" Amy's eyes flickered to the Doctor. "You think it could've been her?"

"At this point," the Doctor sighed. "It very well could be."

"Oh my God," Amy gripped the frame in her hand. "They killed Avalon's Dad. She never even got to meet him." And if they didn't hurry, who knew who else might get caught up in the crossfires of the Silence and Kovarian.

"So Avalon is my _cousin_ ," Lena said but even as she said the word it didn't sound right. Avalon was her _sister_. She always had been even after Lena discovered Avalon was adopted. They grew up together, their entire lives - up until the Doctor showed up 14 years later - had been devoted to each other, Avalon more towards Lena of course.

"No, she's your sister," the Doctor told her, softly smiling at her when he read her distasteful expression. "She always has been and she always will be."

"Yeah, well, she's our _granddaughter_ and we'd like her back," Rory spoke through the moment without caring if he cut it short. Time was of the essence. "Along with Melody."

"Yes," the Doctor snapped his fingers at him. "So Ryland, I need you to tell me how it was that you got Avalon in the first place. You never met River, so who gave you Avalon and when did you get her?"

Ryland was staring at him oddly, puzzled. "Well...it was _you_ , Doctor. You brought Avalon to me as a newborn."

The Doctor's eyes blinked fast for a few seconds while the words fully processed in his head. While the others were naturally shocked, the Doctor was thinking. "Oh..." he said a minute later. "You know what, the TARDIS once told me that too."

"What?" Amy arched an eyebrow at him. "How do you know-"

"Shhh!"

Amy closed her mouth but it was only because the quicker he thought, the quicker they could find both girls. And indeed the Doctor was thinking, thinking back to when the TARDIS had been placed into a human body. Her jumbled words were beginning to make a lot of sense now.

_"Of course!" Idris waved him off and moved for the exit, "You brought her in when she was just a little baby," she mimicked the rocking of a baby._

"She did tell me that," he concluded a few minutes later. " _I_ brought Avalon into the TARDIS when she was just a newborn...meaning I have to be there when River eventually gives birth. Oh, that should be interesting."

"Doctor!" Rory hissed. "Focus!"

"Right! So Ryland, I bring Avalon to you sometime in your past - in the future I presume?"

Ryland nodded. "Yeah. Emmalina was, um, ready to give birth herself to Lena. I think you brought her in maybe like, two weeks before Lena was born?"

"And did I say anything? Maybe leave myself a little message?"

Ryland scrunched his face. "Actually, yeah. Well, first you warned me that there would be a time when you would come back and...have this precise conversation with me."

"Yeah, that's how time travel works! Anything else?"

"He said that things would turn out okay." And as Ryland spoke those words, he did feel a bit of a relief washing over him. In the end, Avalon would be okay and she would come back. The same feeling went for Lena and the Ponds. "And he was very adamant that I warn you about...a poison? Not to let..." And suddenly his face fell flat, almost scary like a Dad. "He said not to let Avalon kiss you in Berlin."

"Oh, funny how time travel works," the Doctor cleared his throat and looked away with flushed cheeks. Why would his future self be so adamant about _that_?

"Dad," Lena gently shook her father's arm until he dropped the accusing face on the Doctor.

"It's what _he_ said!" Ryland exclaimed, gesturing at the Time Lord. "So don't let her do it!"

"Anything else?" the Doctor asked fast in hopes of moving the conversation along.

"No," Ryland shook his head. "I mean, you just said that I had to hide Avalon. That-that people would want to find her so I had to hide her really well. So I did. I came here."

"You mean that's the reason why we left New Earth?" frowned Lena. "Do you realize how bad of a move that was for Avalon?"

"I wanted to make sure that nobody found her," Ryland sighed then threw Amy and Rory a look. "How was I supposed to know that I'd end up moving next door to her grandmother?"

"Ditto," Amy returned the favor with a sour tone.

"Okay, okay, okay," the Doctor began to pace back and forth along the fireplace. "So I give you Avalon and then you move here. She grows up and she meets me again? Twice..."

"Did you ever get the feeling that you were being watched or something?" Rory question a few seconds later.

"Oh yes! Good question!" the Doctor once again snapped his fingers at Rory. "Well? Was there?"

"Not really," Ryland shrugged. "I did what you asked, Doctor. I kept her safe and away from the big cities. That's why we chose Leadworth. Nobody wants to come here."

"Yeah, good job," the Doctor made a face when he thought about the small town. He remembered Avalon complaining how nothing ever happened in the damn place. "But still, anything strange? Maybe somebody staring oddly at you or Avalon? Somebody who said something strange?"

Ryland thought long and hard about anything that could be helpful in the search. "Well..." he wasn't sure if this precise memory would be useful but it was better for the Doctor to know just in case. "One time...there was this...girl, a woman. I, uh, I had an argument with Avalon. She was 15 and we shouted a lot. Avalon ran away and I went looking for her after a while."

"Giving her time to cool off, I know the feeling," the Doctor admitted. "So, what happened?"

"I found her in the park, she was on a swing - she loves the swings - but she wasn't alone. There was this woman with her. Brown hair-" he mimicked the hair on the side of his head, "-and brown eyes. Kind of petite. Round face, maybe? She was talking to Avalon and the way she spoke made it sound like she knew Avalon."

"Was she a friend?" the Doctor asked and glanced at the others to see if they knew some woman by that description.

"Avalon barely had friends," Ryland sighed. "She had those two," he nodded at Amy and Rory, "That Mels. And that's pretty much it. This woman...I only ever saw her that one time and everyone knows each other in Leadworth."

"That's true," Lena agreed with a nod. "No one does anything here without somebody else knowing about it."

"Well, what was this woman saying to Avalon?" the Doctor pressed for more details. At this point, he would take anything if it meant being closer to finding Avalon.

"Avalon was angry with me because I wouldn't let her work with Torchwood. I didn't want her anywhere near all those guns and especially not when she was supposed to be in hiding," Ryland explained as if he was just waiting for the group to reproach him for being unfair.

"She was 15?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow as he began making the mental calculations of the year that would be. "2004? Oh yeah," he let out a wolf whistle, "Dodged a huge bullet there. I closed that place down years later."

"But we ended up going after it was re-opened by Jack," Lena reminded her father, beginning to get confused with their trips to that place.

"That was after it was purged from all the anti-alien idealists," Ryland said. "But Avalon insisted on going there. I guess she always felt like she was different and when I said 'no' she lost it. That woman, though, she kept telling Avalon that she wasn't the only one out there in the world. She shouldn't feel alone."

"Maybe it was just somebody trying to be nice?" Amy offered but Ryland seemed certain that it was all wrong.

"No, because she said something that I didn't pick up until now. She told Avalon that her waiting time was almost over. Avalon would just need to wait a few more years."

"A few more years for what?" Lena whispered.

"For _you_ ," Rory suddenly pointed at the Doctor. "Four years later _you_ came back to Leadworth and then 2 more years later you came back for her."

"Interesting," the Doctor straightened up and wondered who this woman was and how she knew that precise information. "You never saw her again?" he asked Ryland.

"No. Never again."

"So what do we think? Could she be involved with Kovarian?" Lena asked the Doctor.

"No, because Kovarian detests me. If that woman was involved with her, she would've brought Avalon right to Kovarian at that moment. Instead she offered Avalon comforting words. Sounds to me she was more of a friend."

"That's all I have, Doctor," Ryland rose from the couch, frustrated with himself over the little information he had. "We've truly lived the way you - the future you - told me to."

"I believe you," the Doctor put a hand over Ryland's shoulder, nodding with reassurance that he had no doubt everything had been done according to his future self's instructions.

Ryland could relish in that at least someone knew the extents he'd gone to, to protect his niece. "But between you and me, I always knew that Avalon wouldn't stay here. Leadworth is too small for someone who...moves too fast." A smile was quick to come to the Doctor's face. "And I don't think she got that from either of her parents. I think that's all Avalon."

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed with a fond sigh. "Ava's meant to be up there," he pointed up, indicating the sky and the stars. "And I'm gonna get her back so I can take her to all those places."

"Big brother, I was thinking..." Lena began suddenly, "Would it be easier - or at least helpful - to find Avalon if you know exactly what you were looking for?"

The Doctor gave her a tilted stare for her odd question. "Baby sister, I know who I'm looking for..."

"Yes, of course of you do. I just meant maybe if you had the exact profile of my sister - cousin..." Lena momentarily closed her eyes, willing herself to get used to that term. It seemed very far-fetched, honestly. "If you had her exact scans, her biology, maybe you could use it to pick up a trace of her."

"I do, actually," the Doctor nodded once he understood what she was getting at. "I took the ones from Kovarian."

"But we have more," Ryland chimed in when he got what Lena was hinting at. He should've thought about it earlier! "We took her to Torchwood years back. Believe you know Jack Harkness?"

The raspberry the Doctor threw answered it pretty well. "That guy!"

"He's funny," Lena chuckled but the Doctor wagged a stern finger at her.

"You stay away from him, baby sister!"

"Avalon liked him..."

"Oh, of course she did," the Doctor rolled his eyes. He didn't want to think how those two were when they got together. Jack Harkness was a _ridiculous_ flirt. Avalon had her flirty ways too. Those two must have had some goes with each other...

The Doctor fervently shook his head suddenly, earning himself some odd (and concerned) looks from the others. "Sorry. Do you have those profiles?"

"I don't, but Jack does. I asked him to keep it confidential because the last thing I wanted was for someone to find them here."

"Good thinking. I'm gonna have to go retrieve them then."

"Don't have to, I can give Jack a call to bring them here," Ryland volunteered instantly and headed for his cellphone to do the job.

"You really think that could help find Ava?" Rory asked when Ryland left. "And Melody?"

"I can only hope," the Doctor admitted. "I don't quite understand Avalon's and Melody's biology but if there's something unique - which there has to be, given what they _are_ \- then just maybe I can trace them."

"You make them sound like experiments," Amy's voice shuddered. She remembered when she and Avalon had been taken by the Silence back in America. She had woken up several times and in one of those Silence mentioned they had examined Avalon. Of course at that time Amy didn't make much of it. She was terrified and angry with those creatures. But now she thought that maybe if she had paid more attention this could have been avoided. She could have had Melody with her and maybe Avalon too.

"They're not experiments," the Doctor quietly said. He figured where Amy's thoughts had gone to. "But...Melody, River, was a bit engineered when we talk about the Time Lord abilities. Ava was just a lovely surprise for everyone, including River I imagine." A big grin came to his face. Avalon _would_ come as a surprise. She always knew how to make an entrance. She'd just been making them from the start of her life. But my what a surprise she was, _is_. She's a miracle. Her existence wasn't planned on and it most certainly couldn't have been easy for River to carry her to term given her situation.

No wonder Avalon believed in fairy tales and the impossible - she was quite an impossible girl herself.

~0~

Young Gavin Reynolds sat on the floor of his sister's bedroom with...his sister's tree child. As he tilted his head to the left, so did the Sapling. When he tilted his head to the right, the Sapling did the same. If he was any other ordinary human, he night have been terrified. But it was actually pretty cool, and so _Avalon._

"My sister just can't be normal for like 1 minute, can she?" Gavin rolled his eyes.

"Mother is very unique," the Sapling announced, his tone giving a warning for Gavin not to argue the opposite.

Gavin only shrugged. "You're going to be fun at family reunions."

There was a light knock on the open bedroom door. "Sapling?" the Doctor stepped inside and immediately found the two boys on the floor.

The Sapling instantly jumped to his feet and rushed up to him. "Did we find Mother!?"

"No, we just needed to come here to get some information..."

The Sapling paused and tilted his head up. "What kind of information?"

Before the Doctor answered, Gavin jumped in with a fairly calm explanation. "He wanted to know about Avalon being adopted." At the Doctor's questioning face, Gavin rolled his eyes and looked at the Sapling. "Dude, if you want to be part of this family you gotta get good at the eavesdropping."

"That's not very nice," the Doctor said, though there was no scolding in his tone.

"Yeah, neither is what happened to Avalon."

The Doctor shifted on his feet, clearly waiting for something and it only took Gavin a few seconds to realize what it was.

"I'm not blaming you. First of all, Avalon would kill me. She's like in love with you or something."

The Sapling giggled. "Not yet, but I think she will be very so-" the Doctor had covered the Sapling's mouth and nervously smiled.

Gavin smirked. "Right. So, my sister is really my cousin? And the reason we live here is because Dad needed to hide her? Who's _that_ interested in her?"

The Doctor sighed and pulled his hand off the Sapling's mouth. "Some very bad people, Gavin."

"Can I help? Avalon and I fight sometimes but that's just what siblings do."

"But Mother is your cousin," the Sapling pointed out for technical terms.

"No, she's my sister," Gavin corrected calmly but with certainty.

The Doctor smiled at the teenager. "And I'm sure when she gets back she'll say the same thing about you. But I would really prefer for you to stay here. Who else is going to watch over her things?"

"Yeah I guess," Gavin shrugged. "But I'm here too, alright? Only _I_ can be mean to my sisters. Anyone else I'll kick their ass."

The Doctor laughed. Now that sounded a lot like Avalon. "Right."

"I'm going to see my Dad," Gavin headed for the doorway but stopped just by the Sapling. "You're pretty cool, tree kid, probably the coolest thing Avalon's done."

The Sapling giggled. "Mother gave me her memories. She didn't actually birth me, not like aunt Amy gave birth to Melody."

"Still, see you around, Gavin gave him a high five. "Hey, when you get older, I'll teach you how to skateboard."

The Sapling's eyes dazzled with excitement. "Oh yes! That would be so much fun!" Gavin laughed as he walked out the room. "I like him!" the Sapling exclaimed after Gavin was gone. "But he did say he read Mother's diary when they were younger. Is that was siblings do?"

"Uh, humans are complicated," the Doctor decided to leave it at that. Although he was curious how furious Avalon must have been when she found Gavin with her prized possession.

He looked around the empty room and felt a new layer of heavy guilt taking place over his hearts. It felt like time hadn't passed and that it was only yesterday when he saw Avalon's room for the first time. It was the night she brought him back to show him all her fairytale books. She was safe and sound, showing off what she loved most...

How things changed.

Avalon's room remained exactly the same as when the Doctor first saw it.

The room was still stocked with fairy tale books of all origins. There were even piles of books left on the floor because they couldn't fit on the bookshelves. Her bed was still neatly made with her pink and gold covers. There was a Tinkerbell cushion sitting in the middle of the two pillows. The walls, unlike Amy's childhood bedroom, wasn't filled with kid's drawings. Avalon had decorated her walls with flower stencils - some bright sunflowers, red and pink roses, and a few daffodils. There were various magazine clippings of fashion runways she probably idolized.

_Now I see her insistence on runways,_ the Doctor mused after noticing one prominent clipping near the door. It was of Milan, announcing the brand new fashion week that year experienced.

"Mother _really_ likes to write, huh?" the Sapling had wandered over to Avalon's desk that was full of papers and sprawled pens. A white lamp sat on the right corner. Her chair had been left facing just a bit away from the desk, like someone who had finished working for the moment.

"Yes," the Doctor came over and skimmed some of the papers left behind. It seemed like Avalon had been working on a few short stories. Contrary to what everyone might assume about her writing, none of the stories were about _him._ They were completely original.

The Doctor's hearts swelled as he started to thoroughly read one draft. He had never actually _seen_ her writing. They'd joked that one day he would take a peek at her journal but the moment never came. It was always about running and danger and...

Things had moved too _fast_. The irony wasn't lost on him. It's what Avalon wanted from the start. Things were too slow in Leadworth and outer space was definitely the cure. But sometimes, sometimes going slow was good too.

There were moments that could only be savored if they were slow.

Like this one.

Avalon's writing was eloquent and beautiful. Her _imagination_ was incredibly vast. In one paper she'd created an entire new world that sounded like one of the places he would end up travelling to. Anyone who read this draft would be enthralled.

"What's this, Father?" the Sapling called, pulling the Doctor's attention off the paper in his hands. The Sapling had found a folded letter on the floor next to one of the desk legs. "

The Doctor took the paper thinking it would be another draft, perhaps one he might take with him to reread whenever he wanted. He gave it a skim and realized it was an application. A job maybe that Avalon was thinking of applying for before he popped in?

_No_. He blinked in surprise when he realized it was an application for a publishing shop in Leadworth. And then his hearts swelled all over again. Avalon had been trying to present one of her stories to the local book shop.

_She would've gotten it, no doubt,_ he concluded.

But the application was only halfway finished before big, ugly pen lines crossed off her written information. The Doctor's hearts broke. Avalon had changed her mind but knowing her, she probably decided her writing wasn't good enough. He then realized that the story she'd been ready to submit was the folded paper behind the application.

"Father, what is it?" the Sapling reminded the Doctor that he was still waiting to know what the paper was.

"It's, uh...your mother was trying to get one of her stories published. But it looks like she changed her mind."

"Why?" frowned the Sapling.

"She probably thought her story wasn't all that good."

"Well that had to be wrong! Mother's an excellent writer!"

"She is, actually," the Doctor said, now completely certain about it. He let the application fall to the desk and read through the draft she abandoned. "Maybe when she gets back we can convince her."

The Sapling beamed. "Oh yes!"

"Doctor?" Amy had poked her head into the room, a few seconds later Rory did the same. "Your, uh, friend is here?"

"Is he?" the Doctor lowered the draft in his hand but he didn't let go. "That should be interesting then."

"God this room looks weird now," Rory crinkled his nose at the bedroom. "This used to be my best friend's room...now it's my granddaughter's."

"Imagine me," Amy folded her arms, her nose crinkling in the same way Rory had. "I swore that Avalon used to _like_ you." Rory's entire face scrunched. "I used to think my granddaughter was in love with her grandfather."

"Yeah, uh, let's never talk about that again," Rory resolved. "Let's just think that she'll be back soon, along with Melody."

Amy nodded fervently. They would get them both back.

Neither of them witnessed the Doctor's expression go grim for a moment. He couldn't let them believe everything was going to be completely normal. That would just be cruel. "Ponds, I have to, uh...warn you...about something. _Things_." Amy turned sideways, her eyes narrowing as if asking him ' _what more?'_. "I understand that you want _bab_ _y_ Melody back...but do you remember what River told us? Back on Demons Run?"

Amy looked away, but Rory gave a small nod. "The timelines..." he whispered.

"Yeah," the Doctor swallowed hard. "Look, the girl in the astronaut suit...given what we've learned, there's a good chance that it was Melody or, if the time lines are changing and the one we lived is the changed one, it's Avalon."

And the first thing that both Amy and Rory thought about was the astronaut they'd seen at Lake Silencio. Could it be that Melody was the same astronuat? Or _Avalon_?

Amy didn't say anything but the small noise that came out of her mouth said it all. _No, no, because that would mean..._

"It's established history. Melody has to grow up a certain way, in certain parts, in order for Avalon to exist."

"But that doesn't mean I have to give her up," Amy suddenly snapped and when she realized it she took in a deep breath. "I understand what you mean, alright? But can't we just make sure that Melody goes to that university when she grows up? She'll meet Oliver Reynolds and then we'll have Avalon?"

"Yes and no, it's complicated Pond..." the Doctor himself wasn't even sure how things could work best. He would definitely have to go and consult with River soon. "River made her choices because of what she lived through. She became what she did, because of her choices. And if we take those moments away..."

"She might make a choice that leads her down an entire new path where Avalon is never born," Rory said quietly. It was clear that he had already thought about this before.

"So those are my only two choices?" Amy frowned deeply, her eyes glistening with tears. "I have to choose between my daughter and my granddaughter?"

"Amy..." the Doctor tried to touch her arm but she stepped away. It was hard not to feel hurt by the action but the Doctor reminded himself that on a level, she was right. It was his fault.

"They should've just taken me instead," Amy muttered and stormed out of the room.

"Aunt Amy, come back!" the Sapling ran after the woman. He didn't want more arguments when things were already so bad.

"Don't take it personal, Doctor," Rory sighed.

"But I should, because the choice I'm giving her isn't entirely fair. And the only reason this is happening is because of _me_. You should hate me."

"I don't..." Rory was all for denying that statement, but something inside him stopped him. "Doctor, I do not hate you. You have to know that. Amy doesn't hate you either. We're just...we're in pain."

"I should've avoided it, though," the Doctor sighed. "I should have worked harder. I-I should have...listened to you." He turned to the bookshelves lining the side of the room.

Rory watched where the Doctor was looking at. He knew exactly what the Doctor was trying to say and couldn't help the layer of guilt that started inside him too. "Look Doctor, if there's something you need to know before you go off searching for the girls...it's that I shouldn't have pressured you into staying away from Avalon. I-I should have listened to Amy and just stayed out of it." His drive to protect Avalon had always been too much and now he knew why, but it didn't excuse him.

"No, Rory, you did exactly what you were supposed to...what your parental instincts told you. You saw danger and you wanted someone you loved to be safe," the Doctor side-glanced him with sad eyes. "You were just too late."

"No, no," Rory shook his head. "Because maybe if I hadn't stuck my nose into yours and Avalon's business, you would've had enough trust between each other to confide in Avalon and let her know that you wanted to keep her safe. I messed up Doctor, and I'm sorry. So, when this all over, please don't listen to my words anymore. Forget about everything I told you because the safest place for Avalon, the happiest place, at your side. I'm sorry, Doctor."

"You're fine, Rory," the Doctor promised him. Of course he wouldn't blame Rory for trying to keep Avalon safe. Rory had been right all along. He was too dangerous for everyone around him. It'd been naive of him to think that he could change the story with Avalon - and the Ponds - into something that wouldn't end tragically.

Nobody was safe with him.

~ 0 ~

It was truly an interesting moment meeting Jack Harkness again after a long time, even more so now that the Doctor had regenerated. Jack had his go - it was just something he couldn't deny himself - at the Doctor's new face. He started out with 'what a baby face!' and then moved onto the bowties (that were so dorky, apparently) and it ended with an exaggerated comment about his chin.

He was still Jack alright.

"I can't believe you picked up the only other girl who's remotely close to your biology, Doc," Jack rolled his eyes as he set his things down on the Reynolds' kitchen table. "Actually, why'd it take you so long? Should've done this with your last face!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes now and motioned for Jack to hurry setting up his things. "Yeah, yeah. And you know, _you_ could've helped by pointing out to me that there was somebody living on Earth with Time Lord biology."

"I was under oath not to say anything," Jack made a gesture at the group coming into the kitchen. "Ryland here told me that future you sent those instructions. What was I supposed to do?"

The Doctor really hated himself right now, literally. "Fine, fine, just get on with it."

"Right," Jack nodded but paused when he caught sight of Amy and Rory. He could immediately tell they were the parents of Avalon's mother. "I'm sorry for what's happened," he told them earnestly. "But if anyone can find that baby and Avalon, it's that guy right here," he nodded at the Doctor, giving them all his most faithful smile.

"What did you bring?" Lena curiously eyed the computer on the table.

"Everything we ever got on Avalon," Jack shrugged. "Even my own chicken-scratch notes. I figured anything was useful."

"Thanks," the Doctor nodded as he picked up a few of those papers. "How long have you known Avalon?"

"Uh, couple years?" Jack struggled to remember the exact date he'd first met the Reynolds.

"Avalon was about 18," Ryland helped out with the detail. "I knew that Torchwood was a safe place now and I thought if anyone could help Avalon, as well as the rest of my family, blend in...it'd be them."

"And what exactly did you do to Avalon?" Rory raised an eyebrow at Jack, the accusing eyes being a part of him that just came out.

"Nothing hurtful," Jack promised him and the others. "We just ran several tests, gave her things to do. I even had some help. She'll be popping in a few minutes."

"Who did you call?" the Doctor immediately frowned. "You weren't supposed to-"

"-easy there, Doc," Jack warned him to calm down. "I know that this is all new to you but I've come to really like Avalon. I wouldn't put her in harm's way. Besides, you know her too. Just wait a few minutes for the surprise."

"Can we get this moving, please?" Amy's tone was laced with impatience and a bit of anger, though that anger wasn't directed at anyone. "This is supposed to help find Melody and Avalon."

"Right," Jack turned his laptop on and started to explain how it was that Avalon came to them. "I didn't believe it at first, when I read the results and saw that Avalon carried biological traits that only Time Lords were supposed to have. I thought her Dad was pulling a joke on me."

"I didn't even know what Avalon was," Ryland pointed out. "That's why I brought her there."

"And Avalon never realized what these tests were for?" Lena raised an eyebrow at them. She couldn't see Avalon being that ignorant.

"Well, she never remembered them," Jack shrugged. "We wiped her memory each time. Otherwise, she'd find out what she was and who knows what that could've done."

"You _wiped_ her memory?" the Doctor scowled as a new flash of anger ran across his face. "Repeatedly? Do you know the long term effects of that!? Jack!"

"That's why we ran as many tests as we could in one day, for a few days each year. I know the effects," Jack promised him that he wasn't that stupid. But if Jack was being honest, he detected that no matter what he would say, if something was inconvenient for Avalon, the Doctor would be furious. He'd make a note for that later.

"Well, what kind of tests did you run?" Rory's tone was no better than Amy's or the Doctor's.

"We started out with her strength," Jack surfed through his computer to pull up a video of that precise test. "One of the first days we saw her."

Avalon had been instructed to resist the closing of a simple door, but that door was made of a denser material than most doors. She pushed her hands against the door (that was being pushed in the opposite way by an automated system) and to everyone's surprise, she was succeeding. The door had almost opened.

"Yeah, that was our first clue that she wasn't completely related to the family," Jack remarked towards the end of the video. "We ran the same test on Ryland and a much lenient one on Lena."

"I don't remember that," Lena blinked and quickly shot her father a look. "You wiped my brain too!?"

"I had to sweetheart," Ryland sighed.

"We tested Avalon's endurance to temperature differences," Jack went on and pulled up a result for one of those exams. "She's pretty adaptable to heat and cold." The Doctor had moved in to see for himself, his eyes racing over each line. "I mean, she's not up to the same level as you, Doctor, but she's pretty advanced."

"Yeah," the Time Lord agreed. "Did it hurt her?" he asked after a moment, raising his gaze from the laptop screen to see Jack already smiling at him.

"Of course not. Everything was completely monitored."

There was a sudden door bell that froze everyone in their spots.

"Dad!" they soon heard Gavin's voice from the foyer. "There's some weird lady asking to come in! She says she knows Jack!" there was a quiet whisper that was followed by Gavin's voice, "And the Doctor!"

"Who did you bring?" the Doctor suspiciously looked at Jack. He was grinning mischievously.

"Come on in! We're in the kitchen!" Jack called for the mysterious visitor.

A few moments later, a dark-skinned woman walked into the kitchen with a nervous smile. "Hello," she gave a small wave of her hand.

The Doctor's mouth might have hit the floor in shock. "M-Martha!?"

Martha Jones was just as surprised as he was. Her eyes blinked rapidly as she tried to take in his appearance. "Don't tell me... _Doctor_?"

"Oh yeah," Jack's laugh promised for some new remarks later on. "Isn't it hilarious!"

"Oi!" went the Doctor with a huff.

Martha laughed and walked up to the Doctor with open arms. "Oh come here you! And give me a hug!" the Doctor did obey and hugged her tightly. He didn't realize how much he missed her. "I thought I'd never see you again," Martha confessed after giving him a tighter squeeze. "After you showed up at the hunting ground...Mickey and I just knew..."

The Doctor pulled away with a saddened smile. "I may have been a bit over dramatic back then..."

Martha smiled at him but she noticed that despite his happiness to see her, there was a heavy pain sitting in his eyes and it had nothing to do with what happened with Donna, the Daleks, or even Rose. That's when she noticed the gloomy air around the others. "Nice to see you again, Mr. Reynolds, Lena," she gave the two a nod. "I wish it was under better circumstances."

"Thanks for coming," Ryland gave her a quick hug.

Martha then turned her attention to the two people she didn't know yet. She presumed them to be the Doctor's current companions. "Martha Jones," she stepped towards them and held her hand out.

"Amy," the ginger went first, but her weakened shake told Martha just how upset she was.

"Rory," went the man next. He seemed to be fighting the urge to frown like his wife.

"I'm so sorry," Martha sighed and looked at the Doctor. "So, Miss Reynolds? _How_ did you find her? Mr. Reynolds-" she nodded over to Ryland, "-was very keen on no one finding out about her existence."

"You know me, Martha. I always find a way," the Doctor shrugged, sighing deeply. "How did you come across Avalon?"

"He called me," Martha nodded to Jack who agreed to confirm. "Told me there was a girl who could be a Time Lady. She wasn't, but, she's in that area."

"So what did you do to her, then?"

Martha paused to process his rather accusing tone, as if she'd done something wrong. "I just asked her some questions for a few tests," she answered slowly, eyes meeting his accusing ones. "I didn't harm her, if that's what you're assuming."

"What did you do?"

Martha checked for Jack's expression and when he gave another nod and a look that said ' _he did that with me too_ ', Martha sighed and moved over to the table. "Look for yourself."

A younger version of Avalon appeared on the screen sitting behind a metal table with her arms crossed and an expression warning everybody in the vicinity of her growing agitation. " _I already told you,_ " her tone was a snappy one as she glared at whoever was sitting on the opposite side. Their back was to the camera. " _I don't want to do this anymore."_

" _It's just a few questions._ " It turned out to be Martha herself conducting the exams. " _Why are you so upset?_ "

_"Because I have a date I need to get to,"_ Avalon snapped hard for a teenager. _"And I don't feel like explaining why I was late. I mean, how do I fit 'weird creepy alien institution examining me' into a normal conversation?"_

"She got you there," Jack whispered to Martha who then elbowed his side.

Avalon Reynolds turned out to be quite difficult sometimes. Martha could still remember the wicked headaches she got each time she had to run tests on the girl.

" _Let's just answer these few questions and then you can go_ ," Martha was saying.

" _You know what?_ _Why don't you just **bite** me?_" Avalon smirked knowing she got a rile out of Martha.

In the present, Martha still scowled. "No offence, but she has a _mouth_ on her."

"Hasn't changed," the Doctor murmured.

Martha caught his rather proud smile. Oh, she should've known. _Not even surprised,_ she smiled to herself.

" _Listen, if you answer my questions maybe I can answer yours,"_ the Martha in the video continued to try her luck with the resisting Avalon.

She scoffed. " _What could you possibly have for me?"_

" _Jack told me that you're a huge admirer of the Doctor. I happen to know him."_

It was fairly adorable watching Avalon's eyes blink once and go wide. ". _..you do?_ "

The Doctor would never get over her utmost devotion to him, her belief in him. He didn't deserve it at all. Look where it got her?

Once Martha proved to Avalon that she had traveled with the Doctor, Avalon's demeanor changed completely! She was completely enchanted with Martha's story of her first trip with the Doctor.

" _You actually met Shakespeare? He's an amazing writer!"_ Avalon gushed.

" _So then, a story for an answer. You ready?_ "

Avalon nodded fervently. _"Shoot!"_

_"Alright, out of the 7 days of the week, how many nights do you sleep?"_

Avalon tilted her head to the side. " _Um, it depends. Sometimes I sleep 3 days? Sometimes 4?"_

_"Have you ever slept every day of the week?"_

Avalon snorted. " _Nope! I have terrible insomnia! The most days I do sleep it's only for a few hours. Maximum I sleep 5 hours on a good day._ "

" _And...5 hours does it for you? You don't feel a bit tired or something?"_

_"Nope!"_

" _So how many nights do you go without sleep?_ "

_"I've gone 5 days without sleep."_

_"And how do you feel when that happens?"_

Avalon shrugged. She didn't seem very concerned like Martha was sounding. " _I'm okay. I mean, sometimes I do feel like I could do with a nap but it doesn't kill me if I don't actually do it."_

Martha paused the video to address the first question she'd asked Avalon. "What Avalon described is not Insomnia. Insomnia makes people weary, irritable, tired. She said she didn't feel tired."

"Except she did sometimes," Lena chimed in. There were various times where Avalon was in desperate need of sleep and it made her far too cranky, even for her. "She got mad way too easy."

"Time Lords don't sleep every day, but they do sleep occasionally," Martha laid eyes on the Doctor so he would take over.

"I sleep maybe 2 days a week?" he shrugged but still looked doubtful that he'd presented the right amount. "Perhaps 3 but that one's when I'm extremely exhausted...or lazy. If Avalon and Melody have this ability then they would sleep less than an average human would but still more than what a Time Lord would. I'd say maybe she needs 3 days a week if we schedule it the right way. I suspect that Avalon's never really had a good handle on her sleeping schedule. It's all over the place."

"That's why she never slept then," Amy muttered. She and Rory had been on the receiving end of Avalon's countless sleepless nights. She'd call them in the middle of the nights just to talk!

Martha let the video continue but she went ahead and skipped to a new part of a test.

Video-Martha was asking Avalon a new question. " _F_ _ind the next number in this sequence: 313, 331, 367…"_

The Doctor's eyebrows knitted together at the familiar numbers, but he couldn't figure it out in that moment. Teenage Avalon did.

" _It's 379_ ," she answered without looking remotely troubled. " _What_?"

Martha had said nothing but merely looked over her shoulder - presumably to the person video taping them - and bore her stunned eyes.

"I don't get it," Amy frowned and expectantly waited for somebody to start explaining.

"Why do I know this?" the Doctor pointed at the screen, shooting Martha the same expectant stare as Amy.

"Because it's one of the questions I couldn't figure out when we were stuck in that spaceship scooping out a sentient sun," Martha folded her arms. She herself didn't like remembering that stressful trip. "Remember? I had to figure out the answers to some stupid security questions. This was one of the questions that you solved in like 2 seconds flat."

"Recreational mathematics!" the Doctor blinked when the memory came back to him. "Right! Well, that's child's play!"

"For _you_ ," Martha frowned. "For a human, this would take a serious amount of time to come up with a proper answer. Avalon didn't even blink before she knew the answer."

" _Could you explain how you got that answer, please?"_ the Martha in the video kindly requested.

" _Of course_ ," Avalon shrugged. " _Any number which reduces to one when you take the sum of the square of its digits and you continue iterating until it yields one is a happy number. Any number that doesn't, isn't. A happy prime is a number which is both happy and prime. Can I know another story, please?"_

"Okay, Avalon was good at school but this is just...too weird," Rory rubbed the side of his neck. It was true what Martha had said. It didn't appear like Avalon had thought too much about it. There was more of an automatic instinct for her to give the answer. "Is that what you think like, Doctor?"

The Doctor bobbed his head. "Somewhat."

"How did you never pick up on that, big brother?" asked Lena.

"Well, I didn't exactly go asking Avalon math questions." The Doctor left the computer and turned to Martha with an expression begging her to answer him. "How close are we talking here?"

"She thinks a lot more than we do - as humans - and she can see things that none of us can. Her endurance is phenomenal. She can go hours doing a task without break. But you know what? I dare say that Avalon isn't like her mother either," Martha looked at Jack who was agreeing with a fervent nod.

"We thought Avalon was the first of her kind. We left it at 'Unknown hybrid' which you can replace with a better label later," Jack said. "Parts of her brain aren't like her mothers nor her father's. They're not even Time Lord. It's like there's something new inside her. I, uh, I took a reading of it and..."

"Jack," the Doctor wasn't in the mood to hear rambles, not today. "What is it?"

"It's weird but it's the Time Vortex. That's impossible right?"

The Doctor's head turned at Amy and Rory who both blushed red at the same time. "Not if her mother was conceived when the TARDIS was in flight."

"Doctor!" his companions cried in embarrassment.

"That _happens_?" Martha's eyes widened at the pair but the moment she realized what she asked she shook her head and apologized. "Not important, sorry!"

"Except it _did_ and it passed through Melody to Avalon which means..." An odd laugh slipped out of the Doctor's mouth suddenly, earning himself strange looks. "Well, I finally figured out why the TARDIS loves Avalon so much. Avalon carries a little bit of the TARDIS inside her. She's more than just a granddaughter."

"Has that ever happened before?" Lena asked, slightly afraid despite how cheery the Doctor was looking with the new information. "Because you once said that the Time Vortex is very dangerous-"

"When you take it directly in," the Doctor clarified. "My friend Rose did that and it cost me one life but that's not what happened with Avalon. She carries a tiny bit of the vortex inside her and it's mixed with what New Earth civilians are - what your people are, Lena - and it's created something new... _Avalon_. Jack's wrong-"

"Thanks Doc," Jack said with a flattened expression.

"-Avalon's not a hybrid, she's just new. She's entirely new - the first of her kind! I don't even know what to call her - well," the Doctor smiled to himself, "Ava. She's Ava."

"So...she's not a Time Lady?" Amy tried her best to keep following all this information. "She's not like you?"

"Nope! She's similar but she's her own kind! Isn't that amazing!?" the Doctor was too cheery for something like this but, to his credit, it was him. "Jack! Martha!" He turned to the two with newfound excitement. "What else is there to know about my Ava - I-I mean...Avalon?"

"We did find she's got some low-level telepathic abilities," Martha said, smiling at his slip up but she wouldn't torture him right now. There was too much already going on. "Untapped though, imagine she'll have to work on that."

"Anything else?"

"We, uh...we were curious about her regenerative abilities," Jack's eyes flickered to Ryland as if asking for him to step in before the Doctor went ballistic. By now, Jack had concluded there was a bit more than just natural friendship the Doctor felt for Avalon.

It was too late, though. The anger that etched across the Doctor's face was an unnerving one. "You did _what_!? Did you make her _use_ her energy!? You know that's completely limited - it could especially be limited for her!"

"Calm down, Doc, we didn't make her regenerate obviously," Jack snapped. "And like I said before, I wouldn't hurt Avalon."

"What did you do?" the Doctor's voice had dropped to a low, dark tone.

"Minor cuts," Ryland was the one to answer. "Surface scratches."

"Daddy," Lena whispered. "Why would you do that to her?"

"After Jack told me about Avalon's biology, I was nervous. I thought I had someone like you, Doctor, and I had no idea what to do with her. I was afraid that Avalon might accidentally show off those powers in public. This way, if she did have them, we could help her control them."

"And did she?" the Doctor demanded from the trio involved with the exams. "What did she show?"

"She does have a cycle," Martha was the one to answer. "I compared it to one of the scans from that hand you lost? Before the metacrisis..."

"I had examined it before bumping into you," Jack further explained. "I had all the results saved and Martha compared it to the results we got from Avalon."

" _And_?"

"Her regeneration abilities are just as strong as yours," Martha said, surprised even now that it had been a long time since she first concluded. "She doesn't really know how to bring them out, though. The scratches were only minimally erased."

"And Avalon never saw this energy or what?" frowned Rory. "Or did you wipe her memory again?"

"She was a little scared but she also thought it was her own New Earth immune system acting up," Jack explained, and it did make perfect sense. Her regeneration energy could be mistaken for her immune system. "She didn't suspect what it really was."

"You tampered with something extremely delicate," the Doctor's tone was still bordering a low darkness that no one wanted to be on the receiving of. It was hard to believe he'd been laughing only a minute ago. "Avalon is different, we just established that, so her regeneration could be even _more_ limited than mine, than her mother's. You should have never messed with that."

"They only did it because I asked them to," Ryland stepped in to save the pair from further scoldings. "I needed to know exactly what Avalon was in order to know how to best protect her and hide her."

"I know that, but still..." the Doctor knew none of this had been done with malicious intents, but they couldn't grasp how delicate that matter was. "Jack, Martha, how many times did you perform that exam?"

"Only once," Martha promised him. "We knew it could be limited and we didn't want to hurt her. But that's something you can use to trace her and her mother. Both of them can regenerate. You can trace that type of energy, right?"

"I don't know, theoretically." The Doctor wished he could sound more sure of himself but the truth was that he had no idea what he was getting himself into in regards to Avalon and Melody.

"It's something," Jack pointed out. "Better than nothing. And you can have all the scans we took, though they might be a little different now that she's almost a mature adult. How old is she?"

"Twenty-two," Ryland answered. "She's a year past the stopping point of New Earth citizens' aging. How does that work for Time Lords?" he asked the Doctor curiously.

That was certainly a question the Doctor would have to extensively research. "Well, look at me, I'm 909."

"Will my sister be like that too?" Lena shared her father's curiosity. "Because New Earth humans have a longer lifespan than regular humans but it's still not as long as yours."

"I'd have to ask River how old she is in order to compare between her, myself and Avalon," the Doctor said after a moment's thought. "But for sure Avalon would have a longer lifespan." He let a minute of silence pass by before he turned back to the table and started putting everything away. "I'm going to take this and don't expect any of it back." Jack nodded but his expression indicated he'd foreseen this. "I can't have you holding onto to this profile. It's far too dangerous to have on Earth." He didn't want to say it but he didn't want to leave the information out so that someone else could pull a Kovarian and create yet another version of a Time Lord, a whole new species too.

"What do we do in the meantime, Doctor?" Amy stepped forwards while he crammed the last of the papers into Jack's backpack. "Just wait here?"

"Yes, Pond. You and Rory, and Ryland, have to keep your eyes peeled for any suspicious activity around here."

"But nothing ever happens in Leadworth!"

"Exactly. Kovarian might be hiding them right under our noses," the Doctor tapped her forehead, relishing in the fact she hadn't pulled away this time.

"We could do that," Ryland nodded. "We could go through the neighborhood, lurking for anything that doesn't seem right." He looked over to Rory and hoped that the man would agree. They all needed to do what they had to for Avalon and Melody. "We'll be the eyes on Earth."

"Yeah," Rory agreed despite his deep desire to go search for his daughter and granddaughter with this Doctor. He knew how it went. They could get in the way and instead of focusing on the girls, the Doctor would have to stop and save him and Amy. They couldn't do that. They couldn't waste time.

"I can go," Lena volunteered again. "And before you say anything big brother, I won't go out. I can stay in the TARDIS and look after her while you go outside. Plus, somebody needs to watch after the Sapling and we all know that he has to stay in the TARDIS. Wouldn't want to be surprised by the Sc..." Lena suddenly stopped when she realized she didn't know what she'd been about to say.

Without realizing it, she'd forgotten all about the Scream - the reason behind the Sapling's very existence.

After some reluctance, the Doctor gathered the Sapling and Lena to bring them into the TARDIS parked across the street from the Reynolds. Amy and Rory had been sent off home with the promise that Lena would handle their calls, making sure that somebody would answer since they knew the Doctor was horrible at that stuff. All that were left was Ryland, Martha and Jack.

"Please take care of Lena," Ryland said after his daughter had gone into the TARDIS. "She's being strong but her health..."

"I swear she'll be safe," the Doctor said. He had already lost Avalon, he was not going for the second Reynolds, not his baby sister.

"And...the Sapling," Ryland added with some clear hesitant to fully believe the Sapling was real. "Avalon can explain that to me when she comes back."

The Doctor's face went a mild red at the mention. He would not like to be there for that conversation.

"Can't believe you had a tree child," Martha chuckled once Ryland had returned home.

"Actually, we can," Jack corrected her. Martha bobbed her head until she was inclined to agree. Jack got serious afterwards and gave the Doctor an affirmative nod. "Good luck, Doc. If you need anything, give me a call."

"Me too," Martha nodded. "Mickey and I are always ready to help." The Doctor could briefly smile at the mention of another of his companions. "But listen, now that it's just...this girl, Avalon? Is she the new...for a lack of a better word, _Rose_?"

The Doctor stiffened but very soon began to smile. "Oh, she is _nothing_ like Rose." And he meant nothing condescending towards Rose. She would always be a sweet memory of his past life, somebody he'd never forget, and somebody he would always be thankful for. "Avalon is a beautiful, impulsive woman who would go the end of the world to save me and the others. She has an exquisite imagination and a reckless way of doing things." A smirk played at the corners of his lips when he thought about how reckless Avalon could be sometimes. It was too attractive, coupled with her gentle aura, he was in too deep. "She's pulled me into so many games that are just..."

"Alright, alright, save it for the wedding vows," Jack dramatically waved a hand at the flushed Time Lord. "Sheesh." Martha giggled beside him.

"I'm happy that you found someone," she said, patting the Doctor on the arm. "After everything that happened, it was only fair."

The Doctor was flustered at the assumption. "Oh no! We're not...we are not a couple. She's a very good friend!"

Martha raised an eyebrow, almost asking him what that entire description of Avalon was for then. "Okay. Call us when you find her, then. I'd love to meet her properly and not in an alien facility."

"I think she'd like that," the Doctor nodded. "But thank you for everything." He gave each friend a tight hug and was bound to the promise to pop in again. They wouldn't let go of him now that they had seen his new face.

Martha and Jack watched him go into the TARDIS, letting the nostalgia hit them when they heard the TARDIS wheezing. There was only a minute of silence before Jack asked Martha an important question.

"How long you give them?"

Martha smirked. "That description? Soon as she gets back. Your wager?"

Jack was smirking just as wide as she was. "Our Doctor boy is still an idiot when it comes to women, or anyone for that matter. I say...3 months after she's back? 20 quid?"

"Your on," Martha laughed.

~ 0 ~

**3 Weeks after Demon's Run. Location Unknown.**

Avalon cradled the month-and-a-half Melody in her arms. She outright refused to put the baby down in the bassinet or practically anywhere that Kovarian ordered. Everything belonged to that woman and the Silence. Nothing was safe, everything could be a trap.

Three weeks it had been since they were taken and so far nothing had happened. The only thing Kovarian had done to her - and just her and not Melody so far, thank God - was inject her with some type of device that allowed Avalon to remember the Silence. Avalon was also pretty sure it was a tracker, in case she wanted to run.

However running wasn't an easy task to do considering Avalon had no idea where they even were. They were in a ship, inside a room, locked in. There was a restroom in the corner built with everything she could possibly need. Hell, the room itself was furnished with everything they needed to live nicely and comfortably.

It was unsettling.

The bed was primped nicely so that a nap could be taken at any moment. The pillows were like marshmallows, and Avalon knew that because at one point exhaustion from her insomnia had gotten to her and she'd fallen asleep for a few hours.

There was a nice closet stocked with clothes and it was one of the things that scared her most about the room. The clothes were all _her_ size and her _style_. _How_ on Earth could they get that information? They were supposed to be focused on Melody (which did _not_ mean that's what she wanted). Why would they bother to stock the room with things for _her_? Why?

She was sure that she was _not_ Melody like the Doctor had thought. If he'd been right, Kovarian would've taken her somewhere else away from Melody. Plus, if she held Melody, Avalon was sure there would've been some catastrophic event. But nothing happened. Avalon cared for Melody all this time without problem.

None of it made sense.

And that's what Kovarian relished in each time she came into the room. Avalon would ask dozens of questions and Kovarian would give zero answers. How Avalon wished she could wipe the smirk off the woman's face. But one wrong move and Melody might pay the price.

Melody started fussing in Avalon's arms. Avalon quickly checked her over to make sure she was fine. Avalon had no idea how to take care of a baby but in the past 3 weeks she became an expert. She could be a real mother now too.

_First try to get out of here before you start coming up with future plans, dumbass,_ she berated herself.

"Hey, hey, Melody, you'll be fine," she whispered to the baby girl. "Cos guess what? This won't last long. Your parents are coming and so is my Fairy Tale Man. They're coming for us, I promise."

She gently rocked Melody side to side until she finally fell asleep again. It was silent for all but 2 minutes. The bedroom door burst open to let Kovarian and two soldiers inside.

Avalon immediately stood up and tried retreating but her back was already against a wall. There was no place to run and hide.

"Oh, she's asleep," Kovarian said after taking a peak in Avalon's arms. Melody had her eyes closed and was truly sleeping soundly. "You've got a good hand, you know. Almost as if you truly were her mother. Ironic."

Avalon's eyes narrowed on the woman. "You're going to be so sorry."

Kovarian's lips curled into a smile doubting Avalon's promise. "Oh, really? And why is that?"

"Because not only have you pissed off the Doctor once, you've done it _twice._ Have you read the stories of what happens when you cross _him_?"

Avalon wanted to believe she saw a brief fear flash across Kovarian's face but the woman had a perfectly unreadable expression. She always did and if she didn't then it meant she was being smug. Avalon hated them both.

"My dear, we have already seen what he's capable of and _that_ is the reason this all started. It's the Doctor's fault we're here-"

Avalon shook her head. "-no, it's n-"

"-it's his fault we had to take Melody-"

"-absolutely not!"

"-and it's his fault we had to take you too-"

"NO!" Avalon screamed and unintentionally made Melody cry.

"Oh, look at what you've done? You've woken the baby up." Kovarian leaned closer but Avalon turned her body away to shield Melody from such an ugly sight. "I don't know why you're so upset. I've only spoken the truth. Everyone thinks the Doctor is such a hero when the truth he's going to bring us into destruction. You have no idea where I come from, child. I've seen the battle in the fields of Trenzalore. I am doing the world a favor. And Melody and you will have the honor of helping us."

"I will _never_ do anything for you. You'll just have to kill me."

Kovarian reached a hand for Avalon's and when the ginger turned her head away, Kovarian gripped her chin and forced Avalon's gaze on her. "But that's the thing, my dear, you won't have a choice. In fact, you and your mother will each have your tasks."

Avalon's eyebrows knitted together. "Mother?"

"Why yes, don't you know? Your mother foolishly thought she could hide you from us but the truth is we've always known where you were. We were just waiting for the right version of you."

"I don't...I don't understand...you know who my birth mother is?"

Kovarian nodded, her smile curling into a smug one. She was going to enjoy these next few months. "Take the baby, it's time to bring her to Earth."

The soldier on her right obeyed and reached for Melody in Avalon's arms.

"No! No! You stay away from her!" Avalon shrieked and spun around so her back was to them all. Her arms tightened as she brought Melody to her chest. "Leave her alone! She's just a baby!"

The second soldier came to Avalon's other side and worked to pry Avalon's arms open so his comrade could take the child. It was true what they said about her, Avalon had the strength of a Time Lord.

Avalon cried for them to leave the baby with her. Melody was wide awake now and crying from the scene. Avalon wanted to hold her tighter but both soldiers were working hard to undo her arms.

"Things would've been far more interesting if your grandmother had this sort of intensity," Kovarian's remarked was enough to make Avalon falter for a second and a second was all that the soldiers needed to rip Melody from her.

"NO! NO! STOP!" Avalon whirled around with every intention of fighting for that little girl when the second soldier took aim with his gun. The cool metal pressed against her forehead, effectively keeping her still. Her watery eyes flickered to Melody who was being handed over to Kovarian. "Please, please, I-I'll do whatever you want but give her back. She's just a baby."

"Oh but you have no idea what she will become," Kovarian gently soothed the baby until she stopped crying. "And you want this to happen. You _need_ it to happen."

Avalon sniffled and shook her head. "No!"

"But you do, because it will ensure your existence. Lower the weapon," Kovarian gave the commanding nod at the soldier who obediently retracted.

"What do you mean?" frowned Avalon. "You keep saying all this stuff-"

"-you haven't figured out and that's unfortunate, but don't worry because I'm about to show you the truth. We can start with who this child really is," Kovarian raised her arms slightly to indicate Melody. "You protect her because she's the daughter of your friends when the truth is she grows up to become someone dangerous, someone who lands themselves in prison. A prison you are familiar with."

"What?" Avalon felt her stomach churn with dread. Kovarian looked like she was truly enjoying this which only warned her that the next thing she said was going to be hard for Avalon.

"Melody Pond, the girl you're so hell bent on protecting turns into River Song, the woman who failed to protect _you..._ her _daughter_."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

And there we have more of an insight to what Avalon is. She's like a Time Lady but she's more of a whole new species because she has qualities of a Time Lady with her New Earth biology and a bonus bit of the TARDIS. She's entirely new! Also, did anyone expect Jack and Martha to be popping in? Spoiler alert: it won't be their last appearance!

And hope you guys caught some important future details in this chapter! They'll be a-coming around later on! ;)

**P. S:** I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	14. While I'm Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor is slowly losing his mind searching for Avalon and Melody.

Lena held her sister's prized possession close to her chest. Ever since Avalon had been taken, Lena hadn't let that journal out of her sight. Avalon would want it first thing when she got back...because she _would_ come back. It was just a matter of time.

That morning - or whatever time it was inside the TARDIS after waking up - Lena hurried towards the console room just like she had done from day 1 on their search for Avalon and Melody. And just like always, the Doctor was already in the room, working hard and fast to find a new lead on Avalon and Melody.

"Big brother, did you sleep?" Lena found herself wondering when she realized how untidy he looked. She understood that he needed way less sleep than she and the Sapling did, but he still needed _some_ sleep.

"Yes, um, at some point...one night, can't remember! Busy!" the man was making rounds at the console, not particularly interested in conversations. These days he did a lot more talking to himself about possible clues than anything else.

Lena spotted his tweed jacket on the floor, the same spot he'd thrown it last night after getting a new lead. She and the Sapling had to get some sleep and the Doctor promised them that he would follow in a few minutes. He did not. "Big brother, nobody wants to find my sister and Melody as much as I do but you really need to get some sleep if this is going to work."

"I can sleep when I have Ava here and Melody with Amy and Rory," he said, his voice a bit snappish due to his lack of rest. He never snapped at her.

"But you can't find them if you can't think," Lena sighed. "That's why you sent me to sleep. Why don't you follow your own advice and take a few hours? I can keep looking. The Sapling should be up in a few hours too."

"I can't," the Doctor shook his head. "I followed the lead last night - it took me to the Messier 82 galaxy - and it turns out that there was a spotting of a woman with an eyepatch in one of the black markets. I went, but guess what!? It was a fake! It was a costume! What a waste of time! So now I'm back to zero! I _cannot_ sleep!"

Lena looked at the journal in her arms. If Avalon could see him now, she would definitely slap him. She valued health over everything, even when _she_ was the one who needed the help. "Avalon wouldn't want you to be like this. She wants you to rest."

"Lena! Are you going to help or not?" he snapped again.

"Yeah, I guess so," Lena came up to the console with a sigh. "So, where exactly are we?"

"Like I said: back to zero!"

"Okay," Lena nodded, trying to be the one to think rationally since she had all her hours of sleep. "Well, you said that Kovarian probably took Melody back to Earth in the past. But to find her would be dangerous because of Avalon's existence so we need to focus on Avalon first. We find her, she can tell us where Melody is and we can pick the right moment to take her without endangering Avalon's life." That was far easier said than done.

They'd spent weeks searching for Melody on Earth, but the Doctor ultimately called it off because of the danger they were putting on Avalon's life. The fact that she was Melody's daughter meant that they had be very careful choosing at what point to bring Melody back to her parents. Instead, they switched gears and focused on Avalon. The idea was that Avalon would know precisely where Melody was and they could extract the baby before she was raised on Earth. River had told him that in order for Avalon to continue existing, she needed to attend some university in the 51st century. The Doctor could arrange for young Melody to do that, no problem, but then he also started wondering if that was _all_ that Melody needed to keep the timelines going? As he stated a while back, maybe the reason Melody did what she did at college, made the choices that she made, was because of her life on Earth. It was all a huge headache.

But one thing for sure, the one thing that River Song herself agreed upon, was that the Doctor needed to find Avalon _first_. She would never forgive him if he chose to search for Melody over Avalon. That made the Doctor feel a little less guilty about his decision when talking it out with Amy and Rory. He wasn't abandoning the search for Melody just because.

But finding Avalon was no more easy than finding Melody. It was like she had vanished into thin air. It terrified the Doctor wondering what they were doing to Avalon if she wasn't outside somewhere. If she was being kept inside, was she tied up? Was she being tortured? There was another part telling him that perhaps she'd been absorbed into their plans and was being trained like Melody, brainwashed no doubt. Repeated brainwashing could permanently damage the mind. If she was being trained to kill him - _him_ \- then she would be getting an extensive course. Everything Melody was meant to learn over the course of her life was being crammed into Avalon for the right day and time.

When his thoughts got too dark, even for him, the Doctor did everything he could to shake them off and focus on just finding her. If he found her, then all that could be avoided. "I don't know, I don't know..." he rubbed his eyes tiredly. He had thought of all the possible places that he knew of but Avalon wasn't there. She was never seen.

"Big brother," Lena gently placed a hand on his arm. The Doctor dropped his hands from his face and glanced at Lena, showcasing the heavy guilt that'd permanently become part of his features. Lena rubbed his arm comfortingly. "Take a moment to breathe. Let's think about this, right? If they separated Avalon and Melody, and Melody's on Earth, then wouldn't that mean Avalon is basically on standby? Where could she stay if she was on standby?"

"Well," the Doctor took in a deep breath and focused on the facts they had about Kovarian's style. "They gave Melody absolute independence on Earth, but they were always watching her. If Avalon is following the same plan, then she has to be living the same thing."

"Right, except they wouldn't give her complete independence because she could run away."

"No, they would have to alter her..." the Doctor was very careful with what he said about what Kovarian might be doing to Avalon. Lena didn't need the images he had in his head. "They would have to change something," he settled for the neutral words instead. _Her brain_. They would have to change something in there to keep Avalon at bay, because Avalon Reynolds was not a woman you could keep at bay so easily. Her terrible temper made her a force to be reckoned with. That's where the brainwashing came in, he imagined. If they changed Avalon's thoughts, she would function just like they wanted her to.

"So then where they would keep her after that?" asked Lena.

"Don't know," the Doctor's eyes found the controls as a new thought popped into his head. "But I bet that whatever they're using they had to have bought it somewhere."

"We're going to the Black Markets, aren't we?" Lena guessed considering the dark nature of Kovarian.

The Doctor nodded. "To as many as we can."

~ 0 ~

**3 Weeks after Demons Run.**

The tears wouldn't stop falling from Avalon's eyes. She felt like a child constantly having to rub the tears off her face only for new ones to take their place seconds later.

River Song was her mother, _River Song_.

It didn't make sense. Yes, she knew she was adopted but never in her life did she consider that _River_ might be the woman who gave her up? All those times that she'd bumped into River and the woman _never_ said anything. She acted as if there was nothing bonding them together, _blood_. It infuriated Avalon all over again. River just paraded through social events, making sure everybody knew who she was and yet the one person that should've been the first to learn her name was the person River chose to abandon and then ignore.

Avalon's eyes fell to the pictures Kovarian had left her with.

"A gift," the woman had smugly said after returning Avalon to her room. She'd let the pile fall to the floor, sprawling around Avalon.

She had been very thorough proving to Avalon that River was Melody and her mother. She had brought Avalon to a room where they played several videos of River confirming that she was her mother. The best one, according to Kovarian, was the video they'd retrieved from Demons Run. River had explained who she was to everyone after the Silence took Avalon. There was no room for doubt.

Now Avalon was left with a series of pictures of River at her finest moments, all of which were her in a compromising illegal act. It was Kovarian's way of showing Avalon that her mother wasn't someone she should try to protect so much. It was a way for Avalon to hate her and willingly work for the Silence. After all, why would she want to protect her mother when she abandoned her?

Even if Avalon didn't want to give Kovarian the satisfaction of being right, Avalon couldn't help the anger that flourished each time she thought about River.

_She abandoned me. She didn't_ _want me.._

The woman galavanted throughout the galaxies, doing whatever the hell she wanted, and she never once came to see her. River knew where she lived, where she was, and she never did anything. Avalon could understand that being in prison complicated things but River never seemed to mind the fact she was incarcerated. She was always up and ready for an adventure. So why would River leave her with someone else to raise?

Because she probably cramped River's style.

Avalon knew that she was a nobody. She had lived in boring old Leadworth and the only exciting thing about her was meeting the Doctor. She didn't have a penny to her name and she certainly didn't astounding qualities. River probably thought she was boring. How could she tell the world that she had given birth to a boring daughter?

Fresh tears stung her eyes. Avalon let out a fierce growl. Her hands found the closest picture and tore it into pieces. "How could you!?" her hand then swiped away any picture nearby, wanting nothing to do with them. "I hate you!"

Let River keep doing her own thing! She didn't need her. She'd done just fine without her for 22 years after all. If River didn't want her then Avalon wouldn't want her either.

The only mother she recognized was Emmalina Reynolds. Enmalina had protected her and loved her. She had been there to hug her when she was scared, to kiss her 'owies' when she'd fallen, to read bedtime stories to her each night. Emmalina had given Avalon her first journal to write in because she knew from the start what Avalon wanted to be when she grew up. Emmalina knew that before _Avalon_ knew it. _That's_ what a mother was like. She knew things that her child wouldn't know until much later. Emmalina had been there when River had been god knew where.

Avalon picked up another picture and studied it until she saw the last detail. River was dressed fashionably, almost like the first time Avalon met her back at the Byzantium, and was conversing with some woman. River held a beautiful sapphire blue jewel that no doubt had been priceless. The setting was an elegant party, judging by the decorations. Even the chandelier was big enough to be caught on the picture and it was made of diamonds. It seemed like a party Avalon would've loved to have gone to.

But where was _she_? At home, in Leadworth, on Earth. She'd been light years away from her mother and River didn't look the least bit upset by the matter.

Avalon's face scrunched as her hands gripped the corners of the picture. She yanked the two sides in the opposite direction and felt a dark satisfaction when she heard the picture tearing. Her gaze fell to the remaining pictures and before she knew it, she'd began to grab each of them and tore them until they were nothing but confetti on the ground.

But once there was nothing left, Avalon still couldn't get rid of the heavy pain in her chest. She wanted to scream and _cry_. Cry for everything that had gone wrong in her life, from the very moment she was born. Her shoulders slumped. The dark anger subsided for a moment to give way for her hear to break all over again.

Her vision blurred with all the tears in her eyes. _My own mother didn't want me, what hope do I have?_ If her own mother didn't want her, how could she expect for anyone else to want her?

Would the Doctor even come for her? He never liked River to begin with and if he knew that _she_ was River's daughter...would he hate her too? The mere thought terrified Avalon.

~0~

The Sapling was was quietly going through an album in the TARDIS library. Despite his insistence to help find his mother, his father and aunt Lena told him there was nothing for him to do right now. They had to start out by mapping the possible locations Avalon could be. But even when they visited most of those locations, there wasn't a job for him to actually _help._ Why? Because they hadn't actually found Avalon, nor Melody. They weren't in any of the locations.

It infuriated all three that they were no closer to finding either girl. The Sapling felt a tingling sensation each time he underwent a new episode of fury. He suspected it was his powers trying to manifest again and the only reason he worked hard to keep them within was because he wanted to use them on the woman who took Avalon and Melody.

But for now, the Sapling was resigned to _wait_. They needed to wait for anything significant to pop up so they could start the search again. It was why he was in the library, passing the time with the only thing he could: by going through his mother's photo albums. She had gone over them extensively because he had asked her to. Now he was going through them again, alone, and really missing his mother.

Lena had appeared at the doorway and yanked the Doctor to her side. "See!?" she was very careful to whisper so that the Sapling wouldn't hear them. "Poor thing's been locked in here for days. I try to get him to come out to eat something but he refuses."

"I don't blame him," the Doctor whispered as he took a peek inside the library. The Sapling was on the couch with the photo album on his lap. He spotted Avalon's journal sitting on the coffee table in front of the Sapling. "You let him have the journal?" he gave a questionable glance at Lena. She hadn't let go of that journal since she stepped into the TARDIS.

Lena's expression was sympathetic. "He misses his Mum." She motioned him to go to the Sapling. "I think you should spend some time with him."

The Doctor would want nothing more than that - well, perhaps spend time with him _and_ Avalon would be better - but his attention had to be on the search. "I left the console to track the black markets selling the specific software Kovarian would need to use on Avalon. I have to be there if anything comes up."

" _I_ can be there," Lena assured him. "If anything does come up, I'll give you a call."

"Lena," the Doctor sighed and shook his head. "I don't...I don't even know what to tell the Sapling. I mean, I told him that I would find his mother and I have yet to follow through. It's been almost a month and I've got nothing."

"He knows that you're searching hard. Right now, I think you just need to be there with him, like a Dad." Lena bumped his side encouragingly. "Just talk."

The Doctor seemed lost for another option. "But you'll be at the console, right?" Lena nodded. "And you'll call if anything comes up?"

"Of course I will," Lena reassured him that she wouldn't leave the console until he got back. With that, the Doctor truly had no choice but go on inside the library.

The Sapling hadn't noticed him initially. He was focused on a picture of Avalon with her brother, Gavin, in a park. They were both attempting to climb a tree but had stopped to pose for the picture.

"Even as a child your mother looks like a troublemaker," the Doctor came around and took a seat next to the Sapling. The Sapling cracked a smile as they both studied the photograph.

A fifteen year old Avalon was smirking at the camera. She might have done something previous to the picture and no one but her would know about it.

The Sapling agreed. "Yeah. Have you found her yet?"

The smile on the Doctor's face was quick to fall. He shook his head in shame. "I haven't yet. But I will."

"I'm scared, Father," the Sapling admitted, not that it was a news for the Doctor. "That woman was a very mean woman who hurt aunt Amy and her baby. What if she's hurting Mother right now?"

The Doctor closed his eyes for a second. He had thought about that so many times, with thorough images, that it left his body shaking each time. Kovarian was not merciful and because she wanted _him_ dead, she would stop at nothing to make sure both Melody and Avalon were thoroughly skilled.

He wondered how many times Avalon had screamed in terror and pain since she'd been taken. How many times had she cried? How much _time_ had it been for her? A week? A month? Years? His hearts ached thinking Avalon had spent years with Kovarian, just like Melody. She was waiting for him to find her and he hadn't been able to track a single clue of where she could be.

"I don't know what they're doing to her right now, but I promise you that we _will_ get her back," the Doctor promised on his lives. The Sapling believed him. He always did.

"Why did they take Mother away, anyways? And baby Melody? They didn't do anything wrong."

Another hard question the Doctor wanted to avoid. "They didn't, of course they didn't," he first agreed. "They...these people that took them, they don't like me very much. They want to hurt me..."

"And they took Mother and Melody because of that?"

The Doctor nodded silently. Even though the Sapling was a child, he could easily read the guilt on the Doctor's face.

"It's not your fault," he said. "Mother would tell you that too."

"Yeah, she would." A brief smile appeared on the Doctor's face as he thought about Avalon's reaction. She would no doubt call him an idiot for believing that but then she would give him one of her warm hugs. He would then indulge himself by believing her for a moment.

"Do you love, Mother?" the Sapling suddenly questioned. Even though it was done in a gentle child's voice, it snapped the Doctor out of his thoughts in a second.

"Wh-what? I don't...what?" the stammering was a natural response given the heavy weight of the question. The Doctor's face went a deep red in the seconds that followed.

The Sapling just smiled. "I just wonder if my parents love each other. Melody's parents love each other."

"Sapling, uh, Amy and Rory have been married a good while now. Your mother and I...it's, uh, very complicated." And that was still an _understatement_. At times, he wanted Avalon right next to him so he could dote on her and show her anything she wanted; he was at her beck and call. But other times...he wanted to lock her in a room so he would leave her alone at least for five minutes. She would frustrate him to no end and having an argument with her was sure to end with both of them screaming at the top of their lungs. It was a strange feeling - as he hadn't had that type of relationship with anyone else - but he knew that even during those moments he still wanted her. He would still want to kiss her and hold her. He liked her, a lot, that was past news but to say 'love'...maybe not right now. _But you **are** getting there_, he made the startling conclusion. He visibly gulped. That was certainly new.

"Maybe...maybe not right now..." he whispered and swallowed down the lump in his throat. He would have to think back on those thoughts another time, preferably when Avalon wasn't in danger.

"For now," the Sapling said matter of factly as he flipped to the next page of the album. "You gave Mother that journal," he nodded to Avalon's journal on the table. "Uncle Rory gave aunt Amy a ring because he loved her. That's what humans do, but you're not very normal."

"Oh, _thanks_ ," the Doctor rolled his eyes. That sounded completely like Avalon.

The Sapling smiled widely. "You gave Mother a journal that never runs out of pages. She wants to write - you gave her the ultimate present. If you don't love her yet, you will soon. And I know that Mother will too."

The Doctor inwardly sighed. The last thing he needed was for that to get around. No doubt Kovarian already had an insight to his feelings towards Avalon. It fueled the game even more, putting Avalon right in the middle of it.

~0~

**1 Month after Demons Run.**

"Why am I here again?" Avalon asked as a female doctor bound her wrists to the metal chair she was forced to sit on. She was back in the room with the screen that originally showed Avalon who her mother was. She didn't want to be there again - actually, she didn't want to be anywhere near Kovarian.

"Because we need to start your conditioning," Kovarian gave the female doctor a nod when Avalon was secured to the chair.

"My what?" Avalon blinked when she saw the female doctor coming back with electric pads in hand. "Why-why are you carrying those? What are you doing?" she frantically asked but the woman started attaching them to her skin without saying a word. Avalon's head craned to see Kovarian watching with satisfaction. "What are you going to do with me!?"

"Same thing we did to Melody. Of course with her, we didn't really use ECT. We just embedded the ideas from the start. I'm making the right adjustments to your conditioning."

"N-n-n-n-no! Get these off me right now!" Avalon resorted to pushing her wrists against the metal cuffs keeping her strapped in.

"Oh don't bother," Kovarian laughed and came up to Avalon. "We know very well about your strength - you get that from your mother - and we have accounted for everything. There is no getting out of this."

Avalon glared, her face scrunching slightly as her anger rose. "What are you going to do?" she flinched when the female doctor attached the last two pads to her temples.

"You seem to cling onto the Doctor more than anyone else, even your grandmother, so we need to change that. Dr. Lefevre here, will conduct the electric shocks at my order and by the time we're done here..." Kovarian came to lean very close to Avalon, allowing her to notice the light freckles on Kovarian's face, "After we're done here, you're going to associate the Doctor with _pain_."

Gulping came on instinct, but Avalon still endeavored to prove that she wouldn't be an easy victim. "I won't fall for it. I got news for you, lady, my brain's all messed up anyways. And you know what? The Doctor might hate me because of who I am but I won't ever hurt him. I'd rather die first."

Kovarian dramatically groaned as she straightened up and turned away from Avalon. "This idolizing him has got to stop! You don't understand the danger he's putting _us_ in with his existence! But don't worry," she spun around back to Avalon, expressing as if Avalon had done something wrong that she could fix for her. " _I_ see the truth and I'm going to help you see it too. Dr. Lefevre?"

Lefevre nodded again and walked out of the room. Avalon shut her eyes thinking the first wave of electric shocks was about to hit her but instead the screen projector came to life and the room's lights went off.

"Let's start," Kovarian smiled maniacally as she came to stand beside Avalon's chair.

~ 0 ~

**1 Month and a week after Demons Run.**

"No, more, no more, _please_ ," Avalon's voice was too strained to make a proper plead. Her body felt like soup. Yes, that was a feeling she thought wasn't possible until now. She felt like she was floating but couldn't really move her arms nor legs. They were the noodles.

"But this is only 2005 now," Kovarian promised but she had promised that last week when this first started.

"Don't you...get it?" Avalon struggled to breath normally. "If you keep...doing this...I won't m...make it."

"Oh don't worry, that's where your regenerative cycle comes in. If your body truly does expire then you'll just regenerate and we can continue where we left off!"

Avalon felt like she could cry there and then. _Regeneration?_ She didn't even want to think about such a thing. Her body _dying_? Now that she knew she could, she wondered how the hell the Doctor could do that so easily and not get stuck on the fact he had to _die_ to get a new body.

"I'm going to...die...and...I don't even know _how_...to survive," Avalon coughed aggressively but Kovarian didn't seem perturbed.

"Lefevre, next!" she gave the order for the screen to switch again.

The next series of pictures shown were the aftermath of a famous battle Avalon once heard of but never had the full details. Along with pictures, Kovarian had also included videos for better representation.

"Cybermen..." Avalon recognized the terrible metal robots marching down a street. "What...what is this?" her eyes widened when the screen switched to show her Daleks flying in the air.

"This is the Battle of Canary Wharf, one of the biggest slaughters of the human race," Kovarian explained, although her tone didn't exactly portray regret. She was angry as hell but it was directed at one man instead of the fact that people died "And who was at the center of it? The Doctor. Have you seen the list of the dead?"

"Have _you_?" Avalon challenged.

Kovarian knew what she was trying to do and smiled. "My anger is not misplaced. This battle was specifically tailored to the Doctor because it originated from Torchwood. I believe you're familiar with the organization? Queen Victoria was like me. She saw the true danger the Doctor posed for the humans. She created Torchwood as a means to put an end to the man. But in the end, _he_ put an end to _it_. People died at the hands of the Daleks and Cybermen. His own companion was thrown into a different universe. And that set the course for an even bigger battle that threatened the very existence of the _universes_."

New tears filled Avalon's eyes as she was forced to see the catastrophic aftermath. Streets were in ruins. Cars had exploded into fire. Several buildings were either half or completely destroyed. But there were so many corpses on the ground. everywhere.

"You didn't know that, did you?" Kovarian watches the tears rolling down Avalon's face. The ginger said nothing, but there was a clear fear etching across her features. "Lefevre!" Kovarian gave a hard yell.

The electric pads sent a riveting shock through Avalon's body. She screamed and wailed for them to stop. Each shock was worse than the last. It was as of everything inside her was on fire and there was no putting it out until Kovarian took pity on her.

When it was over, Avalon's body went limp against her chair. Her eyes wanted to close but she fought to keep them at least half open.

" _Pain_ ," Kovarian repeated just as she did each time the shocks were done. "That is what the Doctor is. Pain, destruction, and we have to end him."

However she could, Avalon glared but her mouth was temporarily unavailable. Kovarian knew this. Each time the shocks were over, Avalon would grow weaker against it. She would either die or she would finally start succumbing to effects.

"This is for your own good, for all of us," Kovarian moved around the chair so that she stood in front of Avalon. "I've seen the future and do you know what? I don't think you should even try to defend him. From where I stand, he's already replaced you and your little family." While Avalon couldn't say anything then, she still glared again. "And you've seen it too," Kovarian turned enough to gesture at the screen that was still showing the last pictures of the Canary Wharf battle. "It's a known fact that each time the Doctor faces a big battle, he leaves the companions behind. The one in that battle got lost in another world, and then the next one? Lefevre!"

The screen suddenly switched to a dark-skinned woman wearing a formal UNIT uniform. Avalon squinted her eyes to try and focus on the name tag the woman was wearing.

"Dr. Martha Jones walked the Earth for a year that none of us can remember to fight yet _another_ Time Lord the Doctor was responsible for. The human nearly got killed and guess what happened? The Doctor -" Kovarian's voice took on a hard tone as she looked back at Avalon, "- _moved on_. And that bit of the woman? Did you know that there was a year completely lost? The Doctor erased a whole year that was full of blood thanks to him and his little Time Lord friend. No one can remember it. Only the Silence could, of course. They're useful like that. Bet the Doctor didn't tell you that, did he?"

Avalon didn't want to look so stunned but...she couldn't help it. What did she mean there was a whole year that none of them can remember? There were no stories about that, not even of Martha Jones fighting in it. The Doctor didn't say a word about it.

"And then the 27 planets that were stolen?" Kovarian yelled for Lefevre to switch pictures. "Oh, there were so many deaths that night. I believe this is where the Doctor moved on from yet another companion after sincerely - how do you humans say it? - _screwing_ her over. Wiped her memories, the whole thing!" she made a quick gesture to the sides of her head.

Avalon's eyes narrowed the moment she thought about Donna Noble. She deeply regretted throwing that in the Doctor's face. That had to be one of the most terrible things he was forced to do. "Accident..." she managed to say. In talking, she got the taste of metal...making her realize there was a bit of blood in her mouth.

Kovarian mocked her with a laugh. "Oh, of course. And do you even know why it was possible for the worlds to be moved? Because that little companion from 2005 was able to cross worlds. The Doctor created a companion so dangerous that she literally _broke_ the walls of the universe. If that doesn't prove how dangerous he is, I don't know what will!"

"N-not his...fault!" Avalon spat and felt bits of blood oozing from the corner of her mouth. It wasn't the Doctor's fault the choices his companions took.

"But it is," Kovarian turned right around to face Avalon. "The next one after that is you and your family. But guess what?" her face morphed into a mocking pout. "It won't last long either. Because I know for a fact that eventually the Doctor will move on from the Ponds. _All_ of you." She made it pretty clear that really did mean _everyone_ which, against her best efforts not to believe it, did sprinkle a bit of fear in Avalon.

Would the Doctor really move on from her too?

_You did hurt him,_ she reminded herself. _He has every right to drop you off too._

"And the next companion after you all is _the_ _one_ ," Kovarian made sure to express her true hatred for whatever poor soul came next in line. "She's the one that brings the Doctor to the place where he will descend destruction on us."

"Then...kill... _her_ ," Avalon found herself saying. She didn't know who was meant to come into the TARDIS in the future but she didn't want the Doctor anywhere near a place that was meant to be a battle zone.

Kovarian feigned a sigh. "But she's a tricky one. I don't know the mechanics. Plus, if I kill her off then somebody else will inevitably bring the Doctor to that place. No, I have to go directly to the source, to the origin. _Here_. The Doctor has to die here, in this point of time."

Avalon swallowed hard when she got memories of Lake Silencio. But then she realized something...she couldn't remember _everything_. She started blinking fast the more she thought in vain. "I-I can't...I can't remember...Lake Silencio...what's-what's going on?"

There was a satisfied smirk playing on Kovarian's face. "Oh, the ECT is finally kicking in. The more we do this, the more fragile your brain becomes and once it's fragile enough we can start."

~ 0 ~

**2 Months after Demon's Run**

"STOP! JUST STOP!" Avalon screamed and wailed, her eyes screwing shut yet snapping open each second like a pattern. Her body twisted and writhed each time she felt a burning prick. "Please...just stop!" Her sobs echoed throughout the crystal clean room but none of the people inside would listen to her.

Two people held her body down, pinning her arms and legs against the metal table. When her skin made contact with the cool metal, she hissed. Her body was so susceptible to radical temperatures right now thanks to the series of tests Kovarian was running on her.

First, it'd been the insomnia test. They deprived Avalon of sleep for God knows what reason, but she was _so_ tired. She'd always had trouble going to sleep but right now she would kill for an hour where she could just doze off. And once they figured out that Avalon could stay a minimum of four days awake, they moved onto to an expanded form of the test. Kovarian wouldn't settle for the simple 'let's see how long you can stay up', no. She would purposely change the temperature, leave Avalon in the dark and if Avalon _dared_ to fall asleep, Kovarian would shock her. It was a piercing electricity that Avalon swore would make her body explode if the tests kept going.

And then they moved onto the injuries. How much could Avalon's body take?

They first started with simple cuts that Avalon would hiss and yell at them to stop. But things escalated. Cuts turned into full-fledged gashes where Avalon would physically want to pass out from how much blood she was losing. She swore that in one of those, somebody had actually touched her bones and organs.

Then Kovarian wanted to see what temperatures Avalon could withstand.

A blazing hot room was Avalon's home for a week. She had never craved water so much in her life. She did pass out a few times but then came the freezing _cold_. No matter how much she begged for them to stop or to at least give her a blanket, she was left in the ice cold room for another week. There were only intervals with regular temperature just so that she wouldn't die.

And now here she was for the latest test. Something about regeneration. The gashes would return and now they expected for her to heal herself but she didn't know _how_! How could she access energy that she didn't even know she _carried_!? And when she proved useless, Kovarian ordered for her people to carve into Avalon's body to examine that energy. One way or another, they would have that energy.

So there was Avalon, desperately crying for somebody to help her. Her right arm felt like it would fall off if she felt another burning cut. She turned her head to the left and blinked fast to get her sight cleared up. A woman was looking down at her behind a pair of glasses.

"Please...just stop...just...for a moment..." Avalon's voice was hoarse from all the screaming and the prior exams. "I...beg you..."

The woman paid her no attention. She just held Avalon's arm tightly and watched the exam continue.

Avalon honestly wished she was dead at this point. Nothing could be worse than what she was living. If she was lucky, they wouldn't find what they were looking for and they would just kill her.

~ 0 ~

**2 Months after Demons Run**

"Uh, no Dad, we...haven't found her yet," Lena wanted to speak as quietly as possible while talking to her father but it was impossible when she was forced to stay in the console with the Doctor's so very good hearing. She wanted to leave each time her father called to know their status on the search, but the Doctor wouldn't have it. He had made a promise to find Avalon and Melody and he wasn't living up to it.

It was like he was punishing himself by forcing himself to hear the disappointment in Lena's voice when she told her father that nothing changed. They were still completely lost.

With a sigh, Lena ended the call with her father. She didn't have to explain to the Doctor what it was about. "He just says he believes in you."

The Doctor let out a noise indicating his lack of faith in himself. He kept himself at the console, his fingers tiredly working through the controls.

"He knows you'll find her, though. He has no doubt about it," Lena kept insisting. "He says-" but she was interrupted by an alarm from the console. She was quick to react with wide eyes. "Is that-"

"-a clue!" the Doctor lunged for the side of the console that was giving off the alarm. He found new energy that sped him up through the process of discovering what the alarm was for.

"Well, what is it!?" Lena anxiously waited for him to say something.

"Don't know, it's...um, somebody's calling me from a Black Market in..." the Doctor leaned closer to the monitor, "It's a Black Market in the Black Eye Galaxy."

"The what now?" Lena blinked, but the Doctor didn't pay attention to her confusion. All he knew was that there was finally a possible clue of where Avalon was.

"Baby sister, you're gonna want to hang onto something! SAPLING!" his voice roared through the room. They had a new place to get to quick!

~ 0 ~

**3 Months After Demon's Run**

Three shots fired consecutively, each hitting of their intended targets.

Avalon swallowed roughly when she lowered her weapon and saw she'd gotten three more straight in a row. She blinked several times as she found she was unable to remember when she was ordered to fire. Her eyes swept over the room as if this were the first time she saw it.

It was huge and barely furnished. The only light coming through was from three small windows above. Avalon realized the room was underground, like a basement. Across of her were three dummies with bullets embedded mostly in the chest. She looked down at herself and could not for the life of her remember how she got into an oversized white blouse and skinny white pants. Even her hair was forced back into a messy low bun. Many of her curls - which were untamed and frizzy from lack of attention - were hanging around her face like curtains.

"How does this keep happening?" she whispered to herself, but she was never alone.

" _Again_ ," the Silence with her commanded.

Avalon swallowed hard and turned her head to the right where the ugly lone Silence stood. Her hand shakily moved up to her dry hair. "B-but I-I r-remember _you_. I can't rememb-b-ber a lot but I k-keep remembering _you_. How are you doing that?"

The Silence left a moment of silence pass by, as if it were actually constructing an explanation to Avalon's questions. Finally, it cocked its head to the side and answered, " _Shoot again_."

"No!" Avalon took aim on the Silence again, albeit her shaky arms didn't exactly cause fear. Half the time she didn't know if what she was seeing was a hallucination from everything she'd gone through, or if things really were as bad as they were.

"Oh put the weapon down, child," Kovarian ordered as she appeared in the room. "You do this every time." She was not phased when Avalon turned the gun on her. "As you do that."

"I don't understand, I-I remember things but it's in pieces," Avalon's hand curled tightly around the gun. "My b-bbrain...it hurts..." she brought her free hand to her massive curls and pulled on them in frustration. "Everything's all jumbled _up_..." her voice cracked in the end, confirming she was truly all over the place. She was losing control over her own thoughts. Her body would jerk suddenly, very often, thanks to the electric shocks. Her skin was dry, making it so easy to get cuts and bruises. And it showed.

Kovarian was proud of her newest experiment. It was working marvelously. It was easier to push Avalon and to control her. Now she wanted to give Avalon the ultimate test, the test that would prove if they'd successfully conditioned her.

"We're going out on a little trip," she announced, not that Avalon seemed to be paying attention. The woman had retreated a few steps and was mumbling words to herself, a nursery rhyme. "Yoo hoo! Anybody home?" Kovarian laughed at her own joke. "Bring her along," she ordered the Silence and turned to leave.

~0~

Avalon wouldn't recognize where they brought her, nor would she know how to get out. The entire place was covered in taverns. It seemed like was night underneath. Everybody looked suspicious, but everyone seemed to fear them - not her but the woman with her - and didn't want anything to do with them.

"You walk far too slow," Kovarian remarked as she studied every movement of Avalon's. Her walking would definitely have to improve. It looked like Avalon was dragging her feet. "And you're not examining your parameters. An enemy can easily take you down right now."

"T-tired..." Avalon said, too weary to say much more. "Why...am I-I here?"

"Because I want you to walk to the end of this line and back," Kovarian responded and a few seconds later came to a stop.

"What?" Avalon thought her hearing might be going too.

"Walk till the end of this aisle and back," Kovarian repeated. "Simple task."

"But why-" Avalon was cut off midsentence when Kovarian pulled out a gun on her.

"I don't explain my orders, child. I give the command and you follow them," she said with a dark tone that had started to seed fear in Avalon. She'd already gotten a taste of it with the ECT.

Avalon closed her eyes. She didn't want to remember that horrible week. She could still feel the electric shocks making her body tremble, and usually her body _would_ shake and jerk. She just wanted it all to _stop._

"Go! Before I shoot you and we both find out how strong your regenerative cycle is." Kovarian motioned with her gun for Avalon to start talking.

Avalon lowered her head and turned in the direction she'd been pointed to. In another moment, she would have probably been ecstatic to visit a real life Black Market. This is the place where all of the fun toys were at. But right now, anyone there could easily kill her with a lift of a finger. She couldn't fight anymore, she couldn't snap anymore, she couldn't think properly. She was just so tired, so incredibly tired, both physically and mentally. It was honestly sad how easily she broke. All those times where she thought she was strong was just a lie. She was weak.

Her feet started taking small steps forwards. At the very least if she walked away she would get a few minutes away from Kovarian and the Silence. That sounded nice.

_But you'll have to go back_ , she reminded herself. It returned the fear in seconds.

She would have to go back, back to the torture, back to the nonstop 'training'. She didn't know how much more she could take, honestly. If she didn't die from exhaustion, she might just go crazy from all the memory blocks. If she was being honest, she didn't even remember what she did yesterday. For all she knew, she might have seen the Doctor yesterday.

Her feet came to an automatic stop. _Would_ she forget something like that? Her hand found the Doctor's watch on her wrist, the very same watch she'd won in a bet a year ago. The Doctor swore she had cheated but he still gave up his favorite watch. She knew that if he wanted to, he would've just taken it back or never really had given it up in the first place, but he never did. He allowed her to keep it.

_Now maybe you can give it back,_ came a pondering thought. Her eyes widened for a second as a genuine idea came to mind. It was probably the only coherent thought she'd had in a while. She looked over her shoulder and could barely see Kovarian which meant that _Kovarian_ could barely see _her._

_Do it,_ the voice told her.

Avalon found the farthest stall in the aisle and dashed for it. It was an odd run, really, as it seemed like a combination of a hobble and a sprint. Her feet were a bit funny lately, but if she did things right she might finally get some rest (and the good kind not the dead type).

"What do you want?" barked the man in charge of the stall. He seemed human enough until Avalon realized he was a slimy green with spikes sticking up from his head. That probably made for some interesting business.

"I-I-I have..." Avalon involuntarily lost her voice for a second. All her words were trying to come out at the same time.

"I don't understand! Are you going to buy something!?" the man snapped.

Avalon quickly nodded her head. "Y-you're about to have the business deal of your life. You know the Doctor?" It was a stupid question given the man's reputation.

The man sneered. "That idiot who takes it upon himself to say what's right or wrong?"

"That's the one! Y-y-you want to owe him a favor?"

The man, despite his obvious dislike for the Doctor, arched a slightly thicker green eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that if you g-g-give him th-this..." Avalon couldn't seem to get the watch off her as fast as possible, "You'll b-be doing him a huge f-favor and you'll h-have one of the most powerful p-people owing _you_ one."

The man scrutinized the watch in her hand with obvious distrust. "Over a simple watch? You trying to have me?"

"I-I swear I'm n-not. This is h-his watch and I'm s-s-someone he's looking for. A-Avalon Reynolds. Tell him that n-name and y-you'll see how fast he comes." She was truly counting on it. At least one more time.

"And if not?"

"Then you just got yourself a nice watch you can probably tweak to hide something you don't want others to see." Avalon tried her best not to seen as nervous as she truly was. This could work only if the man followed through and if Kovarian didn't catch her.

"What did you say your name was?" the man was eyeing her appearance, as if committing her to memory.

She looked like an outright mess. Her clothes were disheveled. Her skin was poorly kept and the chapped cracks were beginning to show. She had a few bruises along her arms, decorating the healing stitches that looked pretty fresh. Every so often she would shake, just like her shaky voice and stuttering words. Her eyes had bangs under them, ugly purple bags. Her hair was in a low pony tail, but most of her curls were popping out in various directions. And the constant stammering was plain annoying.

"U-um, Avalon..." Avalon brought a hand up to scratch her cheek. She seemed like she would close her eyes to think about something, but once again her body jerked and she dropped her arms to her side.

"Wait a second," the man suddenly blinked as if he'd just realized something. "The Doctor was said to be collecting debts for a battle. He took several of my customers away. You're with the Silence, aren't you? The Kovarian chapter? I heard all about that. They took that baby. Pretty stupid if you asked me, picking a fight with _him_. But hey..." the man seemed to be making the connections based on Avalon's teary face. "Oh, you couldn't be...?"

Avalon's eyes filled with tears in that one second. "P-please," she resorted to begging. "D-Don't tell anyone a-a-anything. Just...just get the Doctor. If I g-get out, he'll owe y-you s-s-something."

"Really?" the man raised an eyebrow as he watched Avalon hold the watch. Her hand was trembling to the point of nearly dropping the watch. He was no idiot. She was scared out of her mind and with good reason. He had heard all about the stupid woman who decided to kidnap one of the Doctor's companions, along with their child, and now he had the glorious opportunity to force the Doctor's hand?

That was simply too good of a deal to pass up.

He snatched the watch off Avalon's hand, noticing the woman flinch in the process, and bared his yellow pointy teeth at her. "You got a deal."

Avalon was in disbelief that it actually worked. "R-really?"

"Oh yeah, I can't wait to see the Doctor's face when I force his hand," he eyed the watch now in his possession with newfound fondness. He knew the power he held.

Avalon swallowed hard. How mad would the Doctor be once he learned that she basically let someone borrow him? Hopefully he'd still help her in the end. "C-c-can I...leave a-a m-messsage?" she made a gesture as if she was writing something in the air.

"Oh alright," the man rolled his eyes and retrieved a scrap of paper and pen. However she could, she scribbled a quick message - though from where the man stood, it didn't seem like a message. It was more chicken scratch than anything. She could barely hold the pen as it was.

"Could you...b-break...break..." Avalon tapped the glass of the watch. Her strength wasn't for that anymore. The man once again rolled his eyes and shattered the glass of the clock. Avalon quickly took the watch into her hands and pushed in the crumpled paper inside. "Th-there..."

The man snatched the watch before she could say goodbye to it. It was the last piece of the Doctor she had, so she really hoped giving it away would be worth it. Otherwise, she'd just be completely alone now.

"Now scram!" the man roared and laughed when Avalon turned to run away. She truly was a scared little thing.

When Avalon made it back to Kovarian, she was exhausted. It was a struggle to catch her breath, as if she'd ran a whole marathon.

But Kovarian just smiled upon her work. From her perspective, Avalon had passed the test. She'd given Avalon the opportunity to run away, but she didn't. She came right back just like she was ordered to.

The conditioning was well on its way.

~0~

The TARDIS landed right where the signal had come through, not a minute too late. She was just as motivated to find Avalon and Melody as everyone else. After all, the two women were a part of _her_ too.

"You're sure we're not late or anything?" Lena questioned while the Doctor did a quick surveillance on the monitor of the Black Market they were in.

"Of course. The TARDIS knows the danger Ava and Melody are in. She wants them back as much as we do, don't you old girl?" the TARDIS gave an affirmative hum. The Doctor continued to work until a new thought crossed his mind. "You know, I guess I now understand why you always liked Avalon so much."

Lena smiled when the TARDIS seemed to hum another 'yes'.

"You know she chose Avalon straightaway?" the Doctor glanced at Lena, feigning a pout. "First night your sister stepped in, the TARDIS was willing to let Ava take her for a ride." Lena laughed when the TARDIS hummed what could only be an 'of course'.

"Are we there now!?" the Sapling came running down the stairs. "Is Mother here!?"

"Ah, not yet sure," the Doctor said once he got back to work. For the most part, the market just seemed to be like any other market.

"So, what was the signal you got?" Lena inched closer to his side to catch whatever was on the monitor.

"Somebody's trying to send a message," the Doctor mumbled as he worked to decipher that precise message. "Psychic connection, you see. Trying to send it through the TARDIS. Ah! Here we are!"

The screen turned black for a moment. Particles were arranging to form letters.

_'Avalon Reynolds. Watch.'_

That certainly got the trio silent.

"Who sent that, big brother?" Lena found her voice a few minutes later.

"I-I don't know exactly," the Doctor dove to the keyboard to figure that out. His fingers wouldn't work fast enough for him. "S-somebody wanted to get my attention though because they sent it directly to me."

"Then we should go!" the Sapling darted for the doors when the Doctor ordered him to stop. "But why?"

"Because that is a Black Market and you are a child. I don't know who sent that message but they wanted me here," the Doctor strode towards the doors, making sure to usher the Sapling in the opposite direction. "Lena, survey the entire Market for any trace of Avalon."

"On it," Lena nodded. "But what are you gonna do? What if it's a trap?"

"Then at least you and the Sapling will be here to call for back up. River Song's on the dialing list!"

"I'm sure she is," Lena chuckled as she took position by the console.

The Doctor turned for the doors and straightened his jacket. "Let's do this." He pushed the doors open and walked out.

He started down the long aisle of stalls, making sure to scour each stall for any red hair or eye patch. If Avalon was here, he was not leaving without her. And if this was a trick, then pity the fool who was behind it. He was in no mood for jokes and the entire galaxies knew it.

Eventually, he found an icky, slimy green man giving him a funny eye. The Doctor first made sure that the green man was actually looking at _him_ before walking over to his stall. "You wouldn't happen to know if anyone around sent a psychic message to say, oh, a blue box?"

The green man made no attempt to hide his glee. "That'd be me. Doctor, I presume?" the Doctor gave a brief nod, now eyeing the man up and down. "Your different than the appearance description I had of you. Course that was years ago."

"You sent the message?"

"Why yes I did." The man suddenly raised the Doctor's old watch in the air and had a good laugh pulling it away after the Doctor lunged for it. "So it's true then. It _is_ yours and you are very determined to get it back."

The Doctor glowered at the man who's chest practically rumbled with laughter. "You have 10 seconds to tell me where you got that from."

"Oh no, _no_ ," the man waved a finger, showing off a bright yellow nail that matched the yellow shade of his teeth. "This is valuable. And don't deny it because I know it."

"Where'd you get it from?" the Doctor's tone was dangerously low.

The man smirked proudly. "Some girl gave it to me. Promised me it was valuable and what do you know? She's right."

"What. Girl?"

"Oh, you want to know what she looked like?" the man lowered the watch for a moment as he pretended to think about it, or as if he had to remember. "Well, to be honest with yah, she wasn't looking all that good. Skin looked ready to crack. She's human, ain't she? That's how humans get when they're, uh, what do you call it? Dehydrated? Or no, wait, dry? I don't remember-"

The Doctor lost it and yanked the man over the counter by his slimy green collars. "You have exactly 0.5 seconds to tell me where the hell you got the watch from."

"Or what? I know your stories, you don't do weapons," the man grinned far too confident.

"Let me put it to you straight: the girl I'm looking for is somebody I will do _anything_ for. I'll throw you into a blackhole right now if you don't start telling me the story. And if you think you just got me to deal with? You got another thing coming. You know River Song?"

The man snorted with heavy distaste. "Blasted woman destroyed my stock in the Celeste Black Market."

"The girl is her daughter. You really want to have me and her on your bad list?" the Doctor wasn't comfortable using that truth for his gain but River told him use anything as his disposal to find Avalon. He would apologize for that later. It'd gotten him some information beforehand so it was definitely useful.

"You're kidding," the man laughed. "That girl is her daughter? Well, I guess that's probably where she got her bargaining her skills from. Sneaky little thing."

The Doctor unceremoniously shook the man. "You get River Song as a treat for being extra disgusting. She takes care of your Black Market stocks and I-" he pulled the man slightly closer to his face, "-will take care of you, _personally_." There was a sweet, dark smile spreading across his face that promised true horrors.

The man had the good sense to gulp. "F-fine! The girl said her name was Avalon Reynolds. Said if I gave you the watch you would owe me a favor. Some friend you got there, bargaining you off for her own personal gain."

The Doctor let the man go without warning - ignoring the slump noise when the man fell over the counter - and took his watch. He inspected it for any other clue Avalon might have left behind for him. He didn't have to look much since the very first thing he saw was the missing glass. There was a small paper crumpled inside.

"Left that for yah," the man muttered once he'd gotten himself off the counter. "She could barely write, though. Kept shaking and one of her fingers had cuts on them."

The Doctor tried not to picture that image. _How scared must she be? I need to be faster._ He unfolded the paper and quickly read the few lines Avalon had written.

_Brainwashing me. I don't know how long I can keep my sanity, literally._

_They keep moving me. It's always in dark places._

_Melody's on Earth somewhere. They took her away from me 3 months ago._

_I'm sorry._

_Three months ago_. The Doctor found it incredibly hard to stay on his feet right then. It'd been 3 months for Avalon. Three months that she'd spent with Kovarian under God knew what tortures. His hand gripped the watch tightly between his fingers.

"This is all she left behind?" he scrutinized the man for any clue that he might be holding back.

"Yeah. She didn't look like she could say much more; looked very sick. But you owe me, Doctor. That was the deal the girl promised me. I gave you what she wanted."

"Yeah, except you didn't hold her here," the Doctor stuffed the watch and the paper in his jacket's inside pocket. " _Then_ I would've owed you something."

The man was outraged he'd been lied to. "You can't do that! If you don't uphold the end of the bargain I'll-"

"No, you really _won't_ ," the Doctor pulled out his sonic and aimed it at the shelves holding jars of glowing liquids. When the sonic was activated, each of the jars exploded like dominoes. The man screamed at the sight of his ruined products but the Doctor didn't flinch with either noise. He only watched as each jar shattered and splattered the stall. "Use this a message to everyone else: if they see Kovarian, the Silence, or Avalon Reynolds, they better call me or I'll come for them and destroy everything that's precious to them. That's a Time Lord's promise." He took off and allowed himself to relish in the man's suffering just for a bit. Or maybe for a long moment. Because if word got out that he would make anyone suffer should they not follow his instructions, he could get Avalon back quicker. And besides, _anyone_ who hurt Avalon deserved to be terrified and to suffer in pain.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Sooo...I wanna hug Avalon really bad here because girl is _not_ having a good time. I also wanted to play out _why_ exactly Kovarian hates the Doctor so much. I always felt like in the show, we never really got the jist of why she fixated on the Doctor so much besides Trenzalore. Like, how did she even get to know the Doctor much? I always thought she went back further in the Doctor's timeline to see what exactly he did before even becoming 11. I don't know, these are just my thoughts! :)

Next chaper is finally Let's Kill Hitler! Expect different twists and endings... :))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	15. The Task of Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Melody Pond strikes back against the Doctor with a secret weapon from Kovarian. When the Doctor is dying, who can save him?

**4 Months After Demon's Run.**

The Doctor, Lena and the Sapling all awaited outside the TARDIS in the center of a crop field. It was no ordinary crop field though because _somebody_ had decided to write 'Doctor' in it, making it the number one headline in Leadworth. The Ponds were very creative, the Doctor would give them that. With no other choice, he had to come back and visit them to update them on the search for Melody and Avalon. In no time they saw Amy and Rory coming to a halt in their car, both getting out with utter urgency.

"Seriously?" the Doctor raised the Leadworth newspaper to the pair. "You do realize you can't do this, right?"

"You weren't answering your phone," Rory snapped at the Doctor as he shut the car door. Neither of them looked guilty for what they'd done.

"Because we were searching," Lena explained. She was supposed to be in charge of keeping the connection between the Doctor and the Ponds, given the Doctor's reputation with phones and whatnot. But in the end, they'd gotten in too deep with the search after getting the clue Avalon left behind for them.

They took every Black Market by storm afterwards, and there were a _lot_ of them. The Sapling had even used his unique abilities to instill new fear in those who were holding things back. With a raging, gigantic tree threatening them, everybody sang like canaries.

Kovarian had been picking up devices for mind altering. Brainwashing to the next level.

Others reported that she was gathering chipping devices. She would probably be branding Avalon and Melody soon enough.

Several of the people described watching Kovarian order Avalon to go to the end of an aisle and back. It was an odd test for them but the Doctor straightaway knew what the purpose of it was. Kovarian wanted to see how conditioned Avalon was. If she came to and back without so much of a kick in protest, it meant Avalon would be a loyal, dependent toy. And all that took the trio a month to gather, leaving everybody back on Earth in distraught over their lack of communication.

"OK, you've had all summer," Amy got straight to business and walked for the Doctor. It'd been the longest summer of her life, definitely the most unbearable one. Things had to be better now. "Have you found them? Have you found Melody and Avalon?"

The Doctor took a moment to look back on his recent efforts to find both mother and daughter. He handed the newspaper to Rory. "Permission?" he asked the human.

"Granted," Rory motioned for him to go on.

The Doctor hugged Amy tightly, "You know who Melody grows up to be, so you know I _will_ find her."

"But you haven't yet?" Amy assumed the last the words, "Not even Avalon?"

"No," the Doctor quietly mumbled.

"But we won't give up," the Sapling said with a finger raised in the air. It brought a momentary smile from Amy, but it was short lived when they heard Rory's puzzled question.

"Hang on, what's this bit?" he was staring at the newspaper with Lena as the picture of the crop circle now showed a slash through the word 'Doctor'.

Amy walked over and took a look, "That wasn't us."

The Doctor took the newspaper and tried seeing where the line would be coming through in the real world. Everyone gathered behind him to try and pinpoint where the exactly that mysterious line came from. However, he stopped and lowered the newspaper when the noise of car came into hearing shot. They screamed as a bright red Corvette headed straight for them. They jumped out of the way just as the car did an abrupt stop only inches from the TARDIS. The driver's door opened up and out stepped a dark skinned young woman with blue eyes and black hair, dressed in a pink and black dress with black boots.

Lena rubbed the dust out of her eyes and immediately recognized the woman across them. "Mels? What are...what are you doing here!?"

"Lena can't you ever keep up?" Mels raised an eyebrow. Lena rolled her eyes but didn't say anything back. She wasn't quite for Mels' attitude. "I was following you. Oh, and I also acted as a delivery girl."

"Um, where did you get the car?" Rory dreaded to ask. It looked far too new for Mels to own.

"Like I said, I'm acting as a delivery girl right now," Mels whistled through her fingers and made everyone cover their ears.

The passenger door of the door opened up and out stepped a familiar, messy ginger haired woman.

" _Avalon_?" Lena's mouth fell open.

"Mother!" the Sapling squealed and jumped to his feet. He and Lena ran towards Avalon, each encasing her in a tight hug. However, Avalon didn't say anything. She cocked her head to the side, darting immediately to Mels as if she held all the answers.

The Doctor straight away noticed something different about Avalon. It was what stopped him from running towards her. She was looking around like she was new to the place, her eyes filled with confusion and...fear? That was _not_ his Ava, not by a long shot. However, nobody else found such differences in that moment. Amy and Rory had followed in the others' foot steps and ambushed Avalon in more hugs. The Doctor turned his head towards Mels and watched the woman smirk proudly, like she knew what was happening.

"Get off me!" Avalon suddenly cried and pushed everyone away from her. Her nose crinkled while her eyebrows knitted together. She was angry. "Get the hell away from me!"

"A-Avalon..." Rory tried taking a step towards her but she drew back the same step.

"Stay away," she warned them with a pointed finger. "Mels!"

"Oh don't worry," Mels strolled over to the woman's side and swung an arm around her shoulders. "They're pretty harmless."

"I don't...I don't understand..." Amy directly looked at the Doctor for the answers they were demanding now.

The Doctor walked up to Avalon and struggled to ignore the fearful retraction of her steps. "Avalon, do you know who we are?"

She looked him over and stared at him for a few minutes. In those minutes, the Doctor studied her to the brim. Her eyes were red and puffy, a clear sign that she'd been crying not too long ago. Her voluminous hair was a bit lifeless at the moment, as if no care had been given to it in a good while. Her skin was a shade of sickly pale and she did look like she'd lost some weight. If he looked really hard, he could see her shake as if she'd been shocked. The bruises on her arms were heartbreaking. It was a heavy challenge not to touch the healing stitches on her arms.

"You're the Doctor," Avalon said after a moment but when she did, the Doctor swore there was a brief flash of anger in her eyes.

"Did she lose her memory? Is that what's going on?" Lena called from behind, attracting the eyes of her sister. "Avalon?"

"Lena," she recited before doing the same to the Sapling, Rory and Amy. "They...they did something...I c-can't...remember...my thoughts..." her shaky hand tried to gesture something beside her head. "All j-j-jumbled up."

Now the Doctor laid dark, suspicious eyes on Mels who couldn't seem more delighted with the scene. "Where did you find her?"

"What, did you lose her or something?"

The Doctor glared and waited for her to say what he needed to know.

"Mels, this is important," snapped Amy. "Where did you find Avalon?"

"Gah!" Mels dramatically threw her arms in the air. "What does it matter? I found her on the entry road to the town! Poor thing can't remember, well...a thing!" she gently tapped Avalon's head, a small action that still elicited a great flinch from Avalon. "Hello? Nobody's home!"

The Doctor yanked Avalon away from Mels with a look warning her not try that again. "Was anybody with her? Did she say anything?"

"So boring," Mels rolled her eyes. "I'm kind of in a rush, actually. Errands to run and whatnot!" A few seconds later, the group heard the blaring sirens of police cars.

There was a collective groan from Lena, Amy and Rory.

"Mels, did you steal the car?" Rory was too tired to deal with this nonsense.

"I'll have you know that it's mine," Mels wagged a finger but at the growing glares of her friends she groaned, "...ish! It's mine-ish!"

"Oh, Mels, not again?" Amy sighed as she rubbed her forehead, "We really don't have time for this today."

"You can't keep doing this. You'll end up in a real prison," Rory added.

"I can see why your father disapproves of her," the Doctor whispered to Lena as he brought Avalon towards the TARDIS.

"Mhm," Lena crossed her arms, "She's half the reasons why Avalon was put under arrest."

"Is that the phone box!" Mels was studying the TARDIS from her spot, somewhat impressed. She'd heard Avalon tell the stories of the box but it didn't compare to seeing it in person. "The bigger-on-the-inside phone box? Time travel - that's just brilliant," she then eyed the Doctor, "Yeah, I've heard a lot about you. I'm their best mate."

"Then why don't I know you?" the Doctor challenged, still unable to trust her despite her relation with the entire group, "I danced with everyone at the wedding. The women were all brilliant, the men were a bit shy."

"I don't do weddings," Mels made a face. She looked back as the sirens grew closer, "And that's me out of time," she took out a gun and aimed it at the Doctor.

The Doctor pushed Avalon away within the second. Rory lunged to catch Avalon before she would fall and once he touched her, he realized how incredibly cold she was.

"M-Mels...not yet..." Avalon said before she even realized she said it. There were so many thoughts inside her right now, she had to sort which ones were pertinent to the situation.

"Mels, for God's sake!" Lena groaned, "You're actions get stupider by the day. Avalon is...sick," she considered her choice of words carefully since her sister truly looked terrified as she basically clung Rory, "And we need your help so put that thing away."

"I'll get her to put it down," the Sapling glowered at the woman. He put his hands together and extended them forwards...when the Doctor pushed them down. "Father!"

"No," he said calmly. He needed Mels inside the TARDIS so he could question her until she passed out from exhaustion. She had more information than what she was letting on and he wasn't going to let her get away.

"I need out of here, now, can you deliver?" Mels looked at the Doctor questioningly.

"Anywhere in particular?"

"Well, let's see! You've got a time machine, I've got a gun. What the hell - let's kill Hitler."

~ 0 ~

Yes, the Doctor could see why Ryland Reynolds disapproved of the Mels' friendship with his daughters. First, she influenced Avalon negatively, she wasn't very well-mannered, and third...because...

"You've shot it!" the Doctor shouted angrily as he stared at the bullet hole that was in the time-rotor casing, the TARDIS already affected badly with the sparks and smoke it billowed while flying out of control. The Doctor turned to Mels, "You shot my TARDIS! You shot the console!"

The girl was holding onto the railing, "It's your fault!"

"Argh! How's it _my_ fault?!"

"You said guns didn't work in this place. You said we're in a state of temporal grace!"

The Doctor tried working the controls to get them flying in a stable manner, "That was a clever lie, you idiot! Anyone could tell that was a clever lie!"

The travelers were thrown all around the room as the TARDIS crashed into a landing, God knew where. The Doctor had opened the doors and pulled out Avalon first since she looked the weakest out of everyone.

"Out, out, out! Everybody out. Don't breathe the smoke, just get out!" he called to the others whilst coughing from the smoke spewing out from the box.

"Where are we?" Amy stumbled out the box, with her pulling the Sapling.

"A room."

"What room?" Rory coughed.

"I don't know! I haven't memorized every room in the universe. I had yesterday off," the Doctor caught Mels trying to get back into the TARDIS, "Mels, don't go in there!"

"Oi!" Mels frowned as her gun was snatched away from her hand.

"Bad smoke! Don't breathe the bad, bad, smoke. Bad, deadly smoke, because _somebody_ shot my TARDIS!"

Lena stood beside Avalon, helping her stand straight, "You okay?"

"I-I have to do something," Avalon coughed and struggled to breathe in. "My body hurts!"

Lena knew that had to be true. Avalon looked exhausted and the last thing she needed was to be bounced all around inside a shot time traveling machine. "I know, I know, we're going to get this all sorted and then you're going to take a big nap! We could make hot chocolate and oh! We could watch Sleeping Beauty!" she threw her arms around Avalon, momentarily relishing that her sister was back. She was _alive_!

"What?" Avalon only frowned. "What's Sleeping Beauty?"

Lena pulled away and incredulously looked at Avalon. She had no idea, she really had no idea! Lena turned to the Doctor for some help. " _What_ did they do to her?"

The Doctor let go of Mels but not without warning her to stay put. He strode up to Avalon and took her by the head, specifically studying her eyes. "It's ECT side effects and the overuse of memory wipes. They've been working very hard on her."

Avalon scrunched her face and tried pushing his hands off her. "Stop it! Let go!" she exclaimed, a bit too frantic for such a small moment.

But the Doctor knew that had to be a consequence from whatever torture she'd gone through. He let go of her and kept his hands raised, wanting her to see that he wasn't one of those people who would hurt her. "Ava, it's me. Remember? I'm...well...I'm your Fairy tale man, remember?"

There was no significant reaction from Avalon - that alone hurt the Doctor - but she did abandon her brief suspicions over him. "You're...my friend..." She suddenly yelped when a sharp pain struck her head. She cried and clapped her hands to head. Images were running through her mind but they were going so fast like somebody had pressed the forwarding button 4 times.

* * *

_"Yes, glad we got that cleared up," the Doctor rocked on his shoes. "Because as the 'fairy tale man' that's not the right thing to do."_

_Avalon briefly smiled but it was done with flushed cheeks. "You know you don't have to keep answering to that name, right? It was a stupid nickname I gave you when I was some stupid kid..."_

_"It's not stupid," the Doctor promised her, though his amused expression didn't quite convince her._

* * *

_"Please, what do you call him, eh?" Idris encouraged Avalon to say the answer out loud. "That name you gave him when you were just seven years old."_

_"Fairy-tale man," Avalon answered slowly, still in confusion._

_"And that is exactly what he doesn't want to lose," Idris smiled sadly, "That image you have of him since you were seven."_

* * *

The Doctor and Lena struggled to calm Avalon down but suddenly, just like that, Avalon sucked in a deep sharp breath and snapped her head up. "You're my Fairy Tale Man!"

"What was that?" Lena frowned. "Avalon, you were in pain-"

Avalon practically shoved her sister away and grabbed the Doctor's arm. "You're my Doctor! You-you found me!"

The Doctor didn't exactly know how she was getting her memories back, nor if it was a trick, but he wanted to be a bit happy right now that she was remembering him. "Yes, I am. I am..."

Avalon took him into a tight hug. The Doctor wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tightly as if she were about to disappear again. He kissed her hair a few times, not that she would notice.

"Doctor, this guy, I think he's hurt!" Rory had found an unconscious man on the floor, his body poking around his desk. Rory rushed over to help him but when he did, he found that the man was alright. "No, hang on. No, he's... he's fine." Well, something good had to happen he supposed.

Against his wishes, the Doctor pulled away from Avalon and gave her a small smile. "You'll be just fine now, Ava." She nodded and watched him go then patted something in her back pocket.

"Mother!" the Sapling would take his turn and hug his mother. "You're okay! We've been looking for you!"

" _That's_ you're kid?" Mels gave a horrid-eye stare at the Sapling. In return, the Sapling stuck his tongue out at the woman.

"Ooh, hello! Sorry, is this your office?" the Doctor asked the man who was now getting up. "Had a sort of collision with my vehicle. Faults on both sides, let's say no more about..." words left him when he saw Adolf Hitler turning around "…it."

"I remember _him_..." Avalon's eyes widened in horror at the sight of the man.

Slowly, the companions moved to the Doctor, "Is that...? No, it can't be, Doctor?" Amy struggled to speak coherently.

"Thank you. Whoever you are, I think you have just saved my life," Hitler honestly said, chuckling at the group.

"Believe me... it was an accident," the Doctor blinked rapidly.

"What is this thing?" Hitler blinked at the sight of the TARDIS and walked to it.

"What did he mean we saved his life?" Amy tapped the Doctor's arm, "We could _not_ have saved Hitler."

"You see?" the alien groaned, "You see, time travel, it never goes to plan."

"I think we need to get out of here," Lena shook her head.

"This box, what is it?" Hitler looked at the group.

"It's a police telephone box from London, England," the Doctor walked over, "That's right, Adolf, the British are coming!"

Hitler didn't seem to take notice of the answer as he watched past the group to the man who tried killing him rise to his feet, "No, stop him!"

Rory punched Hitler on the chin and picked up the gun while Hitler fell to the floor, "Sit still, shut up."

Lena and Amy went to check on the second man. "Are you OK?" she asked as she and Amy helped him up.

"Yes, yes. Yes. I'm fine. I think he missed."

"He was going to kill me," Hitler tried saying but there was nobody listening to him.

"Shut up, Hitler!" Rory ordered with the gun still aimed.

"Rory, take Hitler and put him in that cupboard over there now," the Doctor ordered as he went to the attacked man, "Do it!"

While Rory shoved Hitler into the cupboard while the Doctor helped the second man sit up. "Are you okay?" he wondered.

"Oh, I..." the man started but fell back, unconscious again.

"Um, he just fainted," Lena remarked, surprised.

"Yes, that was a faint," the Doctor agreed as he stood up and studied the man, "A _perfect_ faint."

"What? You think that was intentional?" Lena looked at the man with new suspicion. There could not be more trouble right now, this was just really bad luck.

"Mels?" Avalon's voice pulled the group's attention. She was gazing worriedly at Mels across the room who had her hands pressed against her stomach. "Are you alright?"

"Hitler..." Mels looked at the cupboard.

"What about him?" Lena raised an eyebrow, half expecting the woman to make some cruddy joke about their situation.

"Lousy shot," Mels said before she collapsed to the floor. Everyone dashed to her side, including Avalon who took first place at Mels' left side.

"Mels!" she took Mels' hand.

"Rory," the Doctor motioned for the nurse to start helping. He made sure the Sapling stayed a decent distance from them. The last thing he wanted was for the Sapling to see more blood than he needed to.

"I've got to stop the bleeding," Rory exclaimed.

"Well, how bad is it?" Lena stared at Mels with concern, knowing a cure from Avalon wouldn't work now.

"Just keep her conscious! Stay with us, Mels."

"Hey, look at me. Just hold on," the Doctor tried to get the girl's attention.

"I don't know what is so cool about you," Mels honestly remarked to him while looking at Avalon. "You said he was cool but he's not."

The Doctor rolled his eyes, of course she was dying and insulting him, "Alright, fine, let's make a list of why I'm not cool, then! Any suggestions?"

But Mels wasn't paying attention to him. She was whispering something into Avalon's ear. When Avalon pulled away, she was blinking rapidly. It earned herself some questionable looks from the others, especially the Doctor.

"Almost time," Avalon repeated, nodding her head.

"Time? Time for what?" the Doctor stared at her suspiciously.

"I-I don't remember..." Avalon looked down at Mels questioningly, "...is it time?"

Mels smirked and looked at the others anxiously waiting for her to either die or live. "Wanna know a secret?" she asked. "I didn't really ' _find_ ' her at the entry road," she whispered, "...she was handed over by the big ole boss."

The Doctor's eyebrows shot up, "WHAT?"

Mels smirked as her hands started glowing with regeneration energy. The Doctor quickly stood up and shooed everyone back, pulling Avalon to him in the process.

"No! No! Stop it!" she yelled at him to let go. She wanted to run back to Mels, but the Doctor held her arm to keep her still.

"Father, is she like you?" the Sapling was making a face as the regeneration energy got stronger around Mels.

"Last time I did this, I ended up a toddler in the middle of New York," Mels gazed at her hands that were almost completely enveloped by the energy. She really hoped this time she would get it right because it'd been a pain in the ass having to grow up all over again. If she got this right, then she would finally be _free_.

"OK, Doctor, explain what is happening?" Amy shot a look at the alien, "Please!"

The Doctor was nearly kicking himself for being _so_ stupid. All this time, searching through the galaxies when he himself had said that Kovarian could hide Melody and Avalon right under their noses. "Mels, short for...?"

" _Melody_ ," Mels answered with a wide smirk. She knew exactly what he was thinking. "Gotcha!"

The Doctor then shot the same look back to Amy, a bit irritated she hadn't mentioned this to him. Nobody had bothered to mention that the mysterious friend 'Mels' everyone always talked about was in reality named _Melody_. That would've been _extremely_ helpful. Amy, however, didn't see the problem so clearly yet...along with the others. "Yeah, I named my daughter after her."

"You named your daughter... after your daughter."

"Took me years to find you two. I'm so glad I did," Mels honestly said to her parents, "And, you see, it all worked out in the end, didn't it? You got to raise me after all."

" _You're_ Melody?" Amy's eyes widened.

"No, my head hurts," Lena was thinking how they could have missed this. Mels never gave an indication that she knew more about the Doctor than them. She was always curious, yes, even asking questions like Avalon would.

Rory, however, was thinking farther ahead. "But if she's Melody, that means she's also..." he glanced at Avalon who didn't even notice as she stared in horror at her friend.

"Oh, shut up, Dad! I'm focusing on a dress size," Mels struggled to say right before the regeneration took her over. The group shielded their eyes from the blinding energy. Once it was over, a new, yet familiar, person stood across them. "Right, let's see, then!" River Song gasped as she started taking a look at her new self, "Ooh, it's all going on down there, isn't it? The hair!" she touched her hair and ran to a long mirror on the wall. It was incredibly voluminous. "Avalon, I beat you this time!" she cheered and glanced back at the ginger who was blankly staring at her. "You're going to have to pass on the tips, though!"

Neither knew their similar hair went deeper than just a coincident.

"Everything changes!" Melody laughed, "Oh, but I love it, I love it! I'm all sort of... _mature_!" she set her foot on the endpiece of a furniture beside her, "Hello, Benjamin!"

"Who's Benjamin?" the Sapling tilted his head.

"Tree kid, you couldn't keep up even if you tried!" River sighed and gasped as she passed her tongue over her teeth, "The teeth, the teeth! Oh, look at them!" she pointed to her mouth, "Excuse me, you lot, I need to weigh myself!"

The group leaned on the edge of the desk except for Avalon who had walked a couple steps away from them. Something was coming and she needed to be ready, but she couldn't quite remember.

" _That's_ Melody?" Amy breathed in, her eyes wide as could be.

"That's River Song," Lena shook her head. She felt like something was compressing her head because everything hurt up there.

"Who's River Song?" Melody stood at the doorway with curiosity.

"Spoilers," the Doctor decided no word than that one fit better.

"Spoilers? What's spoilers? Hang on, just something I have to check!" and she ran back to the restroom.

" _She's_...River Song," Rory whispered quietly. Oh, time travel was really hurting right now.

"And she's also my sister's mother!" Lena whisper-hissed. Speaking of...

At the mention of Avalon, the Doctor stood away from the desk and walked over to her, "Ava?" he cautiously turned her to face him, "You alright?"

"Honestly, no," she put a hand on her stomach, "I feel terrible. I c-can't remember anything except th-that there's something really important I have t-to do. But I feel sick. And everything hurts."

"I promise you we will get you sorted as soon as the TARDIS is safe to get back inside in." He didn't want to touch her since almost every part of her arms were covered in bruises, but he did want to hold her.

"But what about Mels? Or, River..." she moved her hand to her forehead, "...all this time she was really the daughter of Amy and Rory? No, wait..." Avalon's head snapped to the side when she realized something, "I knew th-that already. I...I l-learned that...I'm forgetting things."

"Your head's a bit, uh, it's bit jumbled up," the Doctor gently said as he turned her head back to him. "But you'll get better."

"I-I..." Avalon blinked as if there was something in her eyes. The images were coming fast again.

"Ah, that's magnificent!" they heard Melody shout from the restroom. Quickly, she returned to the room with a bright smile, "I'm going to wear _lots_ of jumpers! Well, now, enough of all that!" she shrugged and pulled out a gun which was aimed at the Doctor, "Down to business."

"Mels, what are you doing?" Lena sighed, "This isn't you. Well..."

"She's doing exactly what she's programmed to do, baby sister," the Doctor slowly moved for Melody.

"Where'd she get the gun?" Rory had to ask. How on Earth could Melody - River - carry a gun when she'd just regenerated?

"Hello, Benjamin," the Doctor recalled, "It was in the chair..."

"You noticed!" Melody chuckled and fired but found the gun was empty.

"Of course I noticed," the Doctor smirked at his quick-wit, "As soon as I knew you were coming, I tidied up a bit."

"So you're one step ahead of me, then?"

"Always."

Melody smirked and looked past him. "But are you though?" At the sound of a click, the Doctor turned back to find Avalon holding another gun at him from her spot. Alright, that one scared him a little bit.

"Ava, put that down..." he slowly raised a hand, barely moving an inch forwards when Avalon waved the gun at him again.

"I-I don't remember when somebody told me to do this..." she admitted, but it still didn't make her lower the gun.

"That would be me," Melody said for everybody's clarification. "Posthypnotic suggestion, anybody?" It was the same trick the Silence used on the humans while they were watching over her. "Kovarian made sure to leave her very well trained for this moment."

"You made Mother do this?" frowned the Sapling. "Why!? She's done nothing wrong!"

"Mmm, clearly you haven't learned everything about dear old Mummy," Melody rolled her eyes. "Mummy's not that innocent, you know? She and I...we've had our fair share of moments."

"If she's your friend, then why would you do this to her!?" Amy didn't know whether to cry over her daughter's twisted mind or scream out of frustration.

"Because it's what I'm supposed to do," Melody said quietly. "That's the order and I learned a long time ago that when Kovarian makes an order, you _follow_ it...or _else_."

There was a sharp tinge in the last words that made everybody wonder what Melody had to go through to make that discovery.

"Hey, hey, Avalon, it's me," the Doctor was still holding his hands up. "We went over this remember? I'm the Fairy Tale Man and I came here to rescue you."

"No you didn't, you didn't save me," Avalon shook her head, eyes tearing up in a matter of seconds. It broke the Doctor's hearts because she was saying the truth. He failed her and her mother. "I-I can remember...bits and p-parts...they-they hurt me. And then...and then they hurt me again, and again..." her face scrunched with raw anger and despondence. "They kept hurting me..."

"I know, Ava, I know," the Doctor's own eyes teared up. "It's all my fault but listen, that will never happen again. I'll die if it means you'll live happily and safe. But right now, Ava, right now I _really_ need you to put the gun down. It's okay if you hurt me, but you don't want to hurt Lena, right? Or Amy and Rory? Or the Sapling?"

Avalon's eyes flickered to the others in the room. They were all so scared - though she didn't know they were scared _for_ her and not _of_ her - and the Sapling seemed to want to hide from her. Something went off her in mind and it made her drop the gun on the floor. "Oh my God!" she blinked. The Doctor quickly seized the gun from the floor and gave it to Rory. "Oh my God! Oh my God! I didn't...Doctor, I didn't mean it! I-I didn't mean any of that! Oh my God!" she brought her hands to her mouth as her tears streamed down her eyes. "What did they do to me!?"

The Doctor hurried over to her and pulled her into another hug. She cried and shook between his arms while she begged him to forgive him.

Lena was infuriated to see her sister so... _broken_. Avalon was always so put together, a leader, and she knew exactly what she wanted at all times. Lena rounded on Melody with the ugliest scowl marking her face. " _What_ did you do to my sister!? Fix her right now!"

"I told you," Melody shrugged carelessly. "Posthypnotic suggestion. Kovarian left instructions that I only reinforced."

"You whispered into her ear," Rory recalled the moment just before Melody had regenerated.

Melody smiled. "Use the gun when I use mine. Simple, but very effective."

"And where'd Avalon get the gun from?" demanded Amy.

"Kovarian gave her one!"

"You're a psychopath!" Lena erupted into a loud scream that could probably echo down the streets. She didn't care if this was her friends' daughter, _nobody_ hurts her sister. "Avalon is your friend! Instead of helping her, you're dooming her!"

"I _am_ helping her!" Melody argued defensively which just made incredulously glare.

" _How_ are you helping her!?"

"I may be a psychopath, but I'm also honest."

"You were not a psychopath! Why would she be a psychopath?" Amy snapped at both women for using that horrible term. However, Melody didn't look at all offended by the term.

"Oh, Mummy, Mummy, pay attention," Melody groaned, "I was trained and conditioned for one purpose. I was born to kill the Doctor."

"Demons Run, remember? This is what they were building, my bespoke psychopath," the Doctor explained whilst still holding onto Avalon. He was rubbing a hand down her back, hoping to soothe her until she could understand that he had nothing to forgive her for. "What I can't understand is why you felt the need to get my Ava involved."

"Yeah, Mother didn't do anything wrong," the Sapling chimed in with his own glare.

"No, she only got _involved_ ," Melody shook her head. Things were supposed to have gone a different way but Kovarian just chucked Avalon to her at the last minute and expected Melody to work with what she had. "Nice going there. She always looked up to you. She went on and on about how the Doctor could save anyone. Well guess _what_? You didn't save her nor _me_!" Because if he had saved her, she could've grown up with her parents. She wouldn't have had to grovel on the streets of New York, swallowed up by an astronaut suit. She could've had what Amy had as a child, what Rory had, what the Reynolds had. She could've been like them and then maybe _she_ could've traveled with the Doctor too.

"You're right," the Doctor agreed with a nod.

"No, big brother," Lena turned back to him but he had long ago made up his mind about the matter.

"I didn't save either of them. I put them into this situation," he looked down at Avalon who had buried her face in his chest. "I put people I care about in danger and I don't save them."

"No, no, that's not true," the Sapling frowned. "You've saved so many people, Father. It's impossible to save everybody. Otherwise, this _would_ be a fairy tale."

"Avalon," called Melody, "Time to go."

Avalon jerked between the Doctor's arms, but instead of leaving him she only drew back enough to look up at the Doctor. "I'm _sorry_ ," she sniffed.

"Hey, you don't have to be sorry about anything," he whispered and cleared off a few of her tears from her cheeks. Her skin felt so dry he picked up a few flecks of dead skin. "You just have to worry about getting better. I'm going to get you to a real doctor, and they'll fix you right up."

"But _you_ are my Doctor," she frowned slightly. "Why are you saying nonsense? Nobody can fix me, only you can."

"My Ava, you have no idea how badly I want to change all this," he cupped one side of her face. "I-I wish I could turn back time and keep you safe."

"You said 'my Ava'," she said, choosing to focus on the best part of his words. " _My Ava,_ _you are everything to me. You've owned these hearts for a long while now,_ " Her bright smile could light up anyone's day. "That's what _he_ said. The other Doctor. He told me that, just before he died. Is that true for you too?"

The Doctor thought this was hardly the place to discuss this matter but his hearts did leap a bit now that he finally knew what his ganger had told Avalon just before they escaped the ganger factory. And the ganger Doctor got it spot on too. "It is," he admitted, swallowing hard as if there was something lodged in his throat. "But look at where that's gotten you, where it's gotten everyone..." his eyes looked over her to the rest of the group that he'd solely ruined.

"It's given me a new feeling," Avalon pulled him down closer to her face. "And-and I wouldn't change it. It's _my_ story. And do you know what my story deserves?"

The Doctor could think of a few things, starting with 'safe' and 'happiness'. "Peace," he settled for in the end.

"Nu-uh," Avalon's smile turned sly seconds before she pulled him one more time to close the gap between them. She kissed him like she'd been wanting to for a while - _that_ she could remember perfectly - and held onto his arms because if she kept going, she didn't know if her legs would be able to stand it. But the Doctor was also holding her and with her surprise kiss, he wouldn't be letting go of her anytime soon. He finally got a taste of her lips that, despite being chapped, were so sweet. For a woman who had quite a loud mouth - which he was really fond of - she had such a way of kissing. He could do this for _hours_...

"Avalon?" called Melody, almost snarling, as she headed for the open window, "Quit your snogging and get over here, _now_! Time to go!"

Avalon's body jerked again, forcing her to pull away from the Doctor in the process. She blinked fast and once she found Melody by the window, she walked towards the woman like a robot following orders.

"A-Ava, don't," the Doctor tried to stop her but Avalon ignored him and stopped by Melody.

"Look at that, Berlin on the eve of war," Melody put an arm around Avalon's shoulders, "A whole world about to tear itself apart. Now that's my kind of town. Mum, Dad, Lena, don't follow us. Tree kid...don't you dare go all gigantic on me. And, yes, that is a warning for everybody!" She specifically made sure to look at everyone except the Doctor, something he easily picked up on.

"No warning for me, then?" he slowly walked back to the group, thinking of the perfect moment to snatch Avalon from her. He wasn't going to let her take his Ava off to some deranged city.

"Rather save my breath," Melody smirked, "The deed is done and so are _you_."

The Doctor only had seconds to wonder what she meant when he felt his legs weaken to the point he wobbled till he would fall. Rory and Amy ran to help him stand.

"Father, what's wrong!?" the Sapling, frightened, rushed to his side.

Lena once again glared at Melody, knowing that she was the culprit of whatever was happening to the Doctor. "What did you do to him, Melody!?"

"Oh, that wasn't me," Melody proudly presented Avalon to them.

Avalon seemed horrified to learn, to _remember_ , that it _was_ her fault. "Oh my God!" she brought her hands to her mouth. "It was me!"

"It was never going to be a gun for him," Melody smirked even wider seeing everyone's reactions. "Doctor, the man of peace who understands every kind of warfare, except, perhaps, the cruelest. You shouldn't have fallen into temptation."

The Doctor put a finger on his lips as he looked at Avalon, the ginger completely destroyed over what she'd done. He didn't need to ask to know that she hadn't even remembered what she was supposed to do. Somebody had left those instructions in her head and she would've done them no matter what.

"Doctor, I'm sorry," Avalon cried and tried running to them when Melody grabbed her arm and yanked them out the window.

"NO!" Everyone cried as the woman disappeared.

"Why would Mother do this?" the Sapling sniffed as he looked at his father who really struggled to stand on his own.

"It's not her fault, Sapling," the Doctor said.

"What did she do to you, exactly?" asked Rory so that they knew what to work with. Meanwhile, Lena bolted for the window to see if she could catch where Melody was taking her sister to.

"Avalon, she-she poisoned me," the Doctor answered with a struggle.

"Don't let Avalon kiss you in Berlin," Rory remembered Ryland's words that he'd gotten from a future version of the Doctor. "You literally left yourself a message about this!"

"I'm terrible at messages!" the Doctor snapped, but truth be told he'd kiss Avalon again if the chance was at hand. "And don't start! Avalon didn't know any better, her mother tricked her!"

"Her _mother_ ," Amy sighed, "This is completely awful!"

"Oh, her mother is brainwashed too!"

"That makes it better," Lena returned to them, "How do we help you, big brother? Do you have a plan?"

"The plan is not to die," the Doctor pointed at her, "I gotta save my Ava. Take this! The TARDIS can home in on it," he gave Amy his screwdriver, "Now, go, get after them!" he pushed Rory to the window.

"But what about you?" Lena helped Amy to get him into the TARDIS, "You said the smoke was deadly."

"The smoke's fine. The poison will kill me first," he tried to humor and actually expected for Avalon to remark on that, only she was nowhere around anymore, "Now, get after Avalon and River! Sapling, with me! Poison can't really affect trees!"

The Sapling grinned and nodded.

"But I don't understand," Amy shook her head, "Why would Avalon poison you?"

"She didn't mean to, she was brainwashed," the Doctor explained fast, "The head is a delicate thing and they've managed to get into it. Now, please, just go!" he entered the TARDIS and left them to do their task.

~ 0 ~

Down in front of the building stood Avalon and Melody and were being questioned by German officers. While Avalon seemed completely wrecked, Melody was quite confident in herself.

"What are you doing here?" the officer demanded to know.

"Well," Melody stepped forwards, "We were off to this gay Gypsy bar mitzvah for the disabled, when I thought, "Gosh, the Third Reich's a bit rubbish, I think I'll kill the Fuhrer." Who's with me?"

"Shoot them."

Melody quickly stepped back, in front of Avalon and took all the shots for the both of them. After the shots were finished, she looked up at the officers while hugging herself, "Tip for you all...never shoot a girl while she's regenerating," she opened her arms and sent out regeneration energy towards the soldiers and laughed as she knocked the entire group down, "Ah! Now, that hit the spot."

"Please...we have to go back," Avalon looked up at the window where she was sure the Doctor was still in, "I-I killed him, I have to go help...maybe there's cure..."

"Oh, it's Judas Poison, didn't they tell you?" Melody grabbed a couple machine guns and moved over to a motorcycle.

"I can't remember," Avalon glanced at her, "But _you_ do, you knew I was going to do that, didn't you?"

Melody smirked and started the motorcycle, "C'mon, Avalon."

"But Melody-"

"Look, you killed the Doctor. You committed a crime, they're not gonna want you anymore. But _I_ will," Melody gestured to the motorcycle, "I didn't want you to do any of this but if we didn't do what Kovarian said, she would've killed us. We _had_ to do this. Plus, it's the Doctor's own fault. If he would've been there for us, we wouldn't have gotten here."

"But my friends..." Avalon looked up at the building.

" _I_ am your friend, always have been. C'mon, don't you feel like shopping?"

Avalon was terrified but Melody did ring some facts. She'd done a terrible thing, how could anyone forgive her for that? "Sh-shopping?"

Melody grinned. "Yup! New body, means I've got to get new clothes. Shall we?"

Avalon looked up to see Amy, Lena, and Rory climbing down and grew even more frightened. She didn't want to face them, much less her sister. Melody was right, she'd committed a crime. A crime against the most wonderful man she'd ever met, no one would want her after that.

"Avalon, no!" Lena shouted after her sister as the ginger hurried and climbed on the back of the motorcycle Melody was in, "Avalon!" but it was too late, the women were gone. "We have to stop them, we have to stop them now!"

A soldier came through the gate behind the trio, riding a motorcycle. He stopped in front of them and Rory stepped forwards to explain, "Look, I know how this looks, but let me explain everything from the beginning," but the soldier started reaching for a weapon and so he panicked. "Heil!" he saluted.

"Heil!" the soldier saluted back to him.

Rory took advantage and punched him down. He climbed on the motorcycle and motioned for the other two women to do the same.

"You're all punchy today," Lena remarked as she took her place behind Amy.

"Well, my daughter and granddaughter are out in a city on the brink of war, hell of a reason to punch," Rory shrugged, meaning every last word he said. He'd always cared for Mels and Avalon, Avalon a bit more since he'd met her first. But now after knowing who they were in reality, his protection fired up and he knew he would do anything to keep them safe, even if that meant punching _Hitler_.

"Can you ride a motorbike?" Amy dreaded to ask as he started the motorcycle.

"I expect so. It's that sort of day," Rory shrugged once more and drove off.

~ 0 ~

Melody had found a nice restaurant filled with elegant people and decided to hijack them, both men and women. While she tried several pieces on and checked herself in the mirror, Avalon sat at a nearby table with her hands in her hair, desperately trying to remember and process what she'd done.

"I might take the age down a little, just gradually, to freak people out," Melody chuckled as she tried on a captain's hat and looked back to Avalon, "Whaddya think?"

"What have I done?" Avalon mumbled to herself, "I killed someone, and not just anyone, but the Doctor. I killed him," she looked up at Melody with teary eyes, "Why did you let me do that? What's he ever done to you?"

"I was taken from my parents, you forget that?" Melody raised an eyebrow, "I was thrown into a life of hell because they're all afraid of him and needed someone to do the job that none of them could do."

"And yet _I'm_ the one who did it," Avalon stood up, "Your life may have been hell as a child, but when you came into Leadworth you became my friend and Amy's and Rory, even Lena's. Don't tell me your life was awful back then too."

"Of course it wasn't," Melody admitted quietly and looked around, "It was fun, the most fun I'd ever had."

"Then? _Why_ did you do this to me?" Avalon gestured to herself, her voice breaking in the end. "They stole me and they did something to my head, brainwashed me, hurt me!" She frantically gestured to her injured arms. Melody did swallow hard at the sight of her nearly purple arms. "They did so m-many things to me...and you just let me kill the one person who could've saved us both!"

"I never had a choice, Avalon," Melody's voice softened, "You think I asked for all this? That I wanted my best friend to do what I was trained to do my entire life?"

"Then _why_ did you let me do it!?" Avalon shouted, her tears strolling down her cheeks.

"Because it was either you did it or you died," Melody shrugged, seeing no other way to put it, "I didn't just find you on the entry road, you were handed over to me."

"By who?"

"Avalon, you seriously don't remember anything!?" Melody couldn't help but shout the question, quite exasperated that she really had to start from zero.

"I s-s-see bits and pieces..." Avalon screwed her eyes shut but once she did she saw the woman with the eye patch. "Mels...how could you do this to me?"

"Because I didn't want to see you die, alright? Anyone else, I wouldn't have cared," Melody snapped, honestly not even understanding herself why she had cared so much for her friend's safety, "But _you_ , you are the only one that I can be myself without getting any scolds nor reproaches. It's either you did the task or they killed you on the spot."

"Well I would have rather died," Avalon exclaimed and leaned back on the table, sniffling, "You don't understand, Mels, you didn't make me kill just anyone...you made me kill my Fairy Tale Man. He was mine and he actually cared for me like no one else has. And now, he'll die and I'll lose my friends, my sister, my family. Cos you're right, they won't want me anymore. Who'd love a murderer?"

"It won't matter anymore, Avalon," Melody walked over to her and took her hands, "We'll have a fresh new start, I told you. We can travel the world and do things _our_ way now. No following the rules and pretending to be who we're not."

"But with the Doctor I _did_ do that," Avalon whispered, "He didn't care who I was."

"You killed the Doctor," came Amy's voice from behind them.

Avalon tensed and turned around, seeing Amy a couple steps away from them, "Amy, I know what I did, and there's nothing I can do anymore. She says my healing won't work."

"You killed the Doctor on the orders of the movement known as the Silence and Academy of the Question. You accept and know this to be true?"

Avalon raised an eyebrow, "I...don't understand what all that is. I can't remember, I swear. I killed him and I can't even remember who told me to do it."

'Amy' opened up her mouth and shot out a blue beam at Avalon, making the ginger cry out in pain, "No! No! Get off me!" she pleaded. It brought back the moments of her torture where they would carve her skin.

"That's not Amy!" Melody kicked the Teselecta robot of her mother back and managed to shut down the beam.

Avalon stumbled back onto the floor, "Oh, you don't say? I was just about to ask her when she got that new beam built into her mouth!"

"Oh your sense of humor is back," the Doctor's voice made her look to the side and see the alien standing beside the TARDIS, dressed in black tails and a top hat along with a cane.

"First of all, what the _hell_ are you wearing?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, "You're dying and you stopped to change? You know what, I'm not even surprised."

The Sapling giggled beside his Father. "I think he looked nice! I need to find me a suit too!"

The Doctor spun around with a grin and made his way down the steps, "You should always waste time when you don't have any. Time is not the boss of you - Rule 408," he stopped in front of the robotic Amy, "Amelia Pond, judgment death machine. Why am I not surprised? Sonic cane!"

"Are you serious?" even Melody was stumped by the man.

"Never knowingly. Never knowingly be serious," the Doctor used his cane to scan the Teselecta, "Rule 27. You might want to write these down. Oh, it's a robot!" he concluded from the readings, "With 423 life signs inside. A robot worked by tiny people. Love it! But how do you all get in there, though? Bigger on the inside? No, basic miniaturization sustained by a compression field. Oh, watch what you eat, it'll get you every time. Amy, if you, Rory and Lena are OK, signal me," and then the Doctor got a signal from his cane, "Thanking you," he then gave out a cry of pain.

"Doctor!" Avalon ran to help him, "Oh my God, I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright, leg just went to sleep," he tried to humor her to no avail, "Just had a quick left leg power nap, I forgot I had one scheduled. Actually, better sit down, I think I heard the right one yawning," he sat on the dais of the steps with her help.

"I am _so_ sorry for all this," Avalon stepped away from him. He probably wouldn't want her anywhere near him. "I can't remember, and I know that's no excuse but it's the truth. I don't remember why I did it, I just knew it after I did it and now I've killed you. _I'm_ the woman who kills you." Flashes of the astronaut at Lake Silencio crossed her mind. It was _her_ , wasn't it? _She_ killed him at that lake. But now she'd rewritten time and killed him earlier. She felt sick and it wasn't because of her own injuries. "You...should have just left me that night...that you came back for me. You should have just left me there."

"No, hey!" the Doctor snapped a finger at her, snapping her out of those horrid thoughts. "I don't regret anything we've done in the past! The only thing I regret is not saving you sooner!"

"But I'm a murderer," Avalon whispered and glanced at the robot, the Teselecta. "And they know it. Everybody inside that thing...they know who I am. A murderer." She turned towards the robot, swallowing hard. "You should kill me."

"No, Avalon-"

"I accept my fault," she stepped towards the Teselecta, "I accept my punishment..."

With the confession, the Teselecta shot out a beam of light and trapped her in it. Avalon screamed in terrible pain, one that even made Melody flinch.

"Mother!" the Sapling growled and grew one of his left arms to smack the Teselecta, but the Doctor stopped him.

"NO! Don't you touch her! Do not harm her in any way," the Doctor shouted at the Teselecta and managed to stop the painful beam, leaving only a containment field around Avalon.

"Remember that Amy, Rory and Lena are still inside!"

But after that, the Teselecta turned on Melody and before the brunette tried making a run for it, she was trapped in a containment field as well. "I haven't done anything," Melody writhed in her field, far more awake than Avalon at the moment.

"According to records you are the women who kills the Doctor," was the response of the robot.

"Listen, I love my friend, but _she_ is the one that kills him today, sweetie," Melody snapped, "So far, I've committed no crime."

"He's dying."

"Well, at least I'm not a time-travelling shape-shifting robot operated by miniaturized cross people," the Doctor called, eyeing the situation, perplexed to see Melody 'arrested' as well, "Which, I have got to admit, I didn't see coming. What do you want with them?" he pointed his cane to both women.

"She's Melody Pond, the woman who kills the Doctor. And she-" the robot pointed to Avalon, "-kills you today."

"How can I kill him if he's already dying!? Let me go!" Melody ordered.

"What is any of this to you?" the Doctor demanded from the robot, "Cos my friend there-" he pointed to Melody, "-has a point."

"Throughout history, many criminals have gone unpunished in their lifetimes. Time travel has... responsibilities."

The Doctor laughed, "What? You got yourselves time travel, so you decided to punish dead people?"

"We don't kill them. We extract them near the end of their established timelines."

"And then what?"

"Give them hell."

The Doctor's humor faded away immediately to be replaced by the darkness the Black Markets had come to know in the last month. "I'd ask you who you think you are but I think the answer is pretty obvious. So, who do you think _I_ am? From everything I've heard, it sounds like you've got a record of mine being altered," he glanced at Avalon who was slowly coming around, "Gotta say, I'd love a peek."

"Our records office is sealed to the public. Foreknowledge is dangerous."

"Yes, well, I'll be dead in three minutes. There isn't much foreknowledge left."

"Sorry, can't do that..." There was a moment of silence before the Teselecta changed its mind. "Records available."

The Doctor wouldn't question the change so stood up with great struggle on his cane. The Sapling helped him walk on his wobbly feet. "Question. I'm dying... who wants me dead?"

"The Silence."

"What is the Silence? Why is it called that? What does it mean?"

"The Silence is not a species. It is a religious order, or movement. Their core belief is that silence will fall when the question is asked."

"What question?"

"The first question. The oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight."

"Yes, but what is the question?"

"Unknown."

"Well, fat lot of use that is, you big ginge! Call yourself a Records... Argh!" the Doctor fell to the floor with a cry of pain, "Kidneys are always the first to quit. I've had better, you know."

The containment field around Melody vanished and she dropped to the ground. She would've cheered if the field around Avalon hadn't turned into a flaming red that tortured her. Her shrill screams filled the room and perhaps the rest of the building. Everything was on _fire_. It felt like she was back with Kovarian and the Silence... _oh._ She remembered who gave her the order now.

The Doctor pulled himself across the floor with his hands and called out to the robot, "Amy! Rory! Lena! Can you hear me?"

"Yeah. What do we do? What do we do?" Amy's distraught voice came from the robot.

"Just stop them, please. She's your granddaughter, just stop them." Because the Doctor felt his life slowly slipping away. There was no more of his energy to use and the Sapling was still just a child. He was terrified. If he was to die, then he needed to know that Avalon would come out safe and sound.

"What did you say?" Melody stared at him with confusion from her spot.

The Doctor considered his next words while his gaze was stuck on Avalon. It was a huge _no_ in the world of timelines telling Melody of her future, especially about something - _someone -_ so important to her. But as the field stopped and Avalon dropped to the floor, completely unconscious, and the real Amy (or Rory or Lena) pleaded for his help through the Teselecta, he found there was no other choice. Besides, the universe owed him this.

"Please, now we have to save your parents. Don't run. Now, I know you're scared, but never run when you're scared. Rule 7. Please," he looked at Melody with urgency.

"Why did you say granddaughter?" Melody rose to her feet and frowned. "You said 'granddaughter', _why_?"

"Her mother, her real mother, is River Song, and she would kill you right now for what you've done..."

"Who is this River person?" Melody sighed with exasperation, "And why are you saying she's Avalon's mother? Emmalina is!"

"Imagine, imagine something for me please," the Doctor mustered his final coherent words. Not even the Sapling's strength could keep him up. He had to sit back down, preparing for his final moments. "Imagine that little Melody grows up and she goes to college and she has a baby of her own..." his eyes drifted to Avalon.

Melody slowly looked over to Avalon. Her face was covered by her hair. Melody inched closer to Avalon and touched her ginger locks. They felt like _hers_. "You're lying..."

"You're no fool, Melody, look into your past, look into the now. You've gotten along so good despite everyone else's opinions about you two, the Silence _stole_ her and brought her back to you for some twisted mother-daughter job. You look me in the eye and tell me you're gonna let your parents, _her_ grandparents and sister die," the Doctor ordered her and surprisingly Melody did as told. She looked straight at him and could feel his urgency radiating. "You _know_ there's a special connection between you and Avalon. There always has been and this is why. Somewhere along your timeline you have a daughter, and you _do_ love her. You've hurt her, now make it up by giving her, her grandparents and sister back. Rory can treat her after I...die. Do this for your daughter, Melody..."

Melody turned for Avalon, considering everything she'd heard. It made sense, all of it...but...to _believe_ it...that was hard. She brushed a lock from Avalon's face, "Avalon..." she whispered, unable to bring herself to actually touch her now, "...Avalon, please? I didn't mean to hurt you. I was scared that they would hurt us both. Avalon, wake up."

"Go to her, Sapling," the Doctor urged the child with him. The Sapling was torn between staying with his father or going to his mother. They both needed him. "It's okay, Sapling," the Doctor offered him his best smile. "You go and help your Mother. That's what we wanted to do, remember? Help her."

The Sapling slowly nodded and walked over to Avalon and Melody. He knelt down beside his mother and gently shook her arm. "Mother, please wake up. Aunt Lena, aunt Amy and Uncle Rory need you. I need you too. And so does Father. I don't want my family to be ripped apart. I'm just a kid. I don't know what to do by myself."

Melody blinked at the tree child with a ripple of...sympathy? She knew exactly what he was talking about. She had no idea what to do with herself when she was a child. The Silence had given her full independence but she was a _child_. What was she supposed to do without her parents? She had to figure it out on her own sometimes. She wished somebody could have saved her way before any of this happened. She was just a kid...she shouldn't have had to live the way she had. And now she was the reason why another child would have to figure it out on their own. The Silence didn't do that, _she_ did.

"I'm sorry," the words blurted from her mouth.

The Sapling met Melody's gaze with teary eyes. "Why would you hurt us? We worked so hard to find you, to save you, and you _hurt_ us? That's not fair. You're taking my Mother, my Father, my _family_."

"No, no," Melody shook her head. "I didn't-I didn't mean to..."

The Sapling gently lowered himself to his Mother's side and brushed her hair with his hands. "Mother..." he sniffled.

~ 0 ~

Just as Lena, Amy and Rory were about to die, the TARDIS appeared around them, saving them in time. Lena quickly left her friends' side and ran for the console, "Big brother!" but she stopped when she saw Melody standing there and gasped at the sight of Avalon on the chair, trying to get out of it. "What did you do!?" she fiercely demanded from Melody as she ran to Avalon.

"i-it's fine, Lena," Avalon assured her. Her sight was coming back at least. "I...taught her to fly the TARDIS. Guess those lessons did pay off." She managed a weak smile while her sister hugged her.

"Where's the Doctor?" frowned Amy. "And the Sapling?"

"Then bring us back to the Doctor so he can help her," Lena ordered.

Melody looked around, refusing to tell her exactly what was going to happen to the Doctor in just a moment. Still, she used what Avalon had told her and successfully brought the TARDIS back to the restaurant.

Amy ran out the TARDIS first to find the Doctor lying on the stairs, nearly unconscious, with the Sapling at his side. Amy dropped on one of his sides, "You can't die now. I know you don't die now."

"Oh, Pond! You've got a schedule for everything," the Doctor managed to smile. From the corner of his eyes he could see Avalon coming out of the TARDIS with Lena's and Melody's help. She was _safe_ now. Now it was okay to...to go.

"Doctor, what do we do? Come on. How do we help you?" Rory called to him as he and the others neared him.

"No, sorry, Rory. You can't. Nobody can," the Doctor sighed, "Ponds, listen to me, I need to talk to your daughter."

Everyone looked back at Melody who now looked completely uncomfortable. Slowly, she came towards the Doctor while the others backed away. She bent down beside him and whispered quietly to him, "You're not lying are you?" she glanced back to Avalon who was direcly staring at them with tears in her eyes, still filled with guilt.

"You see it now, don't you?" the Doctor questioned her, "Her eyes are yours, her hair is yours, her spirits are yours. But she doesn't know it yet, she thinks you're just a really close friend."

"I'm her mother...and I let her commit murder," Melody swallowed hard, if that didn't make her the worst mother of the year she didn't know what would.

"I need you to do something for me," the Doctor told her, "Find River Song and tell her something from me."

"Tell her what?" she raised an eyebrow and leaned down to listen to his quiet words. After she sat straight again, she had tears in her eyes, "Well, I don't know how..." but he gave her a pointed look that made her shift in place. She stood up and turned to the group, "Who's River Song?" she demanded.

Without a word, Amy moved to the Teselecta now host to no lives inside, "Are you still working because I'm still a relative? Access files on River Song."

"Records available."

"Show me her. Show me River Song."

Melody's tears strolled down her face as she now saw herself in the Teselecta. She glanced back at Avalon and shuddered a breath, "I lied."

Avalon shooed Rory off her, "What about?"

"There's no cure...but _you_ have all the cures in your immune system...a well evolutionized system..."

Avalon's eyes half-widened. She raised her hands and turned them over. "And that would work? That would really work?"

"Might..." Melody shrugged with a small smile as she watched the ginger's hope increase by the seconds. "...but there could be consequences..."

"Don't care," Avalon snapped and hurried to the Doctor however she could on her wobbly feet. She came to sit beside him, ignoring the slight pain she felt on her knees. She motioned for the Sapling to move away. She would need a moment alone.

"What's she doing?" Lena looked at Melody suspiciously. One more trick from hers and this time Lena might just slap her.

Melody didn't answer and turned for Avalon, hoping her words would be true and...perhaps, do one good thing for her...daughter. She didn't want anyone to grow up the way that she did.

"I promise you after this you can chuck me into a black hole," Avalon whispered to the Doctor. "Or put me in jail. That's what I deserve. I'm _so_ sorry for all this. Believe me, killing you is the last thing I wanted to do," she leaned down and stroked his hair, smiling slightly when he opened his eyes. He looked so weak and it was _all_ her fault. He would never sit still, never lay down. He was always on the run, exploring different worlds, saving people here and there. He was the perfect man. A man that should not have to die.

"You remember those stories you wanted to see? The ones I wrote when I was younger? Well, they were all about you, stupid," Avalon's face blushed a warm pink as she explained what she thought she'd never say. "You're the Fairy Tale Man and you were always my hero, saving me...and do you remember when I couldn't sleep last year? You had to talk to me about my nightmare and you said I should dream up something that would ward the nightmares away? Well, _you_ were the knight-in-shining-armor that fought off all my nightmares. You protected me. You've been quite the busy man," her smile spread as her blush deepened, "Now the princess - albeit an odd one - gets to save the prince."

"But Ava..." the Doctor could barely say those two words. Even with his bypass system, his lungs had expended his air.

"Be sure to rest for a bit before you go gallivanting through galaxies, alright?" Avalon leaned down, ignoring his weak attempts to stop her, and kissed him. Her fingers held onto the lapels of his jacket, as if she'd need it to keep him still. Her body glowed as the energy of her immunization began to transfer from her to the Doctor's. Avalon could feel her strength slipping away but she took comfort knowing it was going to the right place.

Towards the end, Avalon barely had the strength to raise her head. She weakly glanced at the others with a small smile. But her eyelids became heavy and before she knew it, she laid her head on the Doctor's chest and fell into darkness.

~ 0 ~

The next time Avalon opened her eyes, she was in a bright, white room. For a few seconds, she thought this was what the afterlife looked like...but then she heard a familiar voice.

"Avalon, sweetie, you're awake," Ryland was sitting right next to her bed - a hospital bed because she was in the _hospital_.

"Yeah, took you long enough," Gavin snorted but soon yelped when Lena elbowed him on the side. "I mean, yay, you're awake!"

Avalon scrunched her face and tried getting up, but everybody told her to stay put. "What's...what's going on?" she swallowed hard. Her body _hurt_. Everything was sore and moving the slightest caused a wave of pain to wash over her. " _Owww_."

"You're in the hospital, Avalon," Lena explained the bits most pertinent for the moment. "We brought you here after, um...Berlin."

It took only a few seconds for Avalon to remember what she did. "Oh my God! The Doctor!" she tried getting up again but Ryland pushed her down and kept a firm hold over her shoulders. "Daddy, stop! I have to go-"

"Avalon, it's okay! He's okay!" Ryland exclaimed over her voice. "The Doctor's just fine now." Avalon stopped struggling and studied Ryland's face for any indication that he was lying just so she wouldn't get up. Ryland knew her so well. "I'm telling you the truth. He's here, taking care of some things."

"So I...I didn't kill him?" Avalon's eyes flickered to Lena. "He-he survived?"

Lena smiled at her. "Yes. And as Daddy said, he's just taking care of some things. But you, Miss, you need to rest. _A lot_."

Avalon could care less about herself right now. She was just relieved that the Doctor had survived. "I...I didn't kill him."

"No, but you gave up something else," Gavin spoke up, sounding a bit irritated with her.

"What...?"

Ryland shot his son a look to keep quiet. What they had to tell her to needed to be done in a delicate manner. "Um, sweetie, there's something you need to know. You, uh...you saved the Doctor and nobody could be more proud of you for that, but...there were some consequences."

"Like?"

Ryland sighed. "Your immunity system has dropped, almost entirely. You lost the ability to heal people and your health has reverted to that of, well, an average human."

"Without those vaccinations all the babies usually get," Gavin chimed in, once again receiving the glares from his father and now his sister. "What? It's true."

Avalon was trying to understand what it meant, but it didn't take a lot of her thought process to figure it out. "So I-I don't have my abilities anymore? I don't have all the cures?"

"No," Ryland confirmed. "And the doctors here tried everything to activate it but there's nothing there anymore. We're going to have to be very careful for a long while now, until we can build up your immunity from scratch. But, even when that happens, it won't be like it used to be."

"I'll just be like Amy and Rory," Avalon nodded to herself. "Like every other human. I can get a cold now..."

"It's a bit more dangerous right now because you literally have no defense system."

"It's fine," Avalon swallowed hard and smiled. "It's my punishment for what I did."

"No, it's not," Lena frowned. "This was an accident but it is _not_ because you did something wrong. Nothing is your fault. It's on Kovarian and the Silence." As soon as she spoke those two names, Avalon flinched. Lena regretted it deeply. "I'm sorry."

"No, no...it's okay..." Avalon bit her lower lip.

"How long were you with them, Avalon?" Lena decided to ask after a moment.

"...about...5 months..." Avalon scrunched her face when more memories started coming back to her. A lot of them included her screaming and begging for them to stop hurting her. "They-they kept..."

Lena reached for her sister's hand and held it tight. Avalon didn't have the strength, currently, to do the same. "It's okay, Avalon."

Avalon brought her free hand to her hair, pulling the strands as she continued to remember. Every pain she felt from the carvings, from the prodding, the needles. Her body was on fire. And she was so terrified.

"Avalon, it's okay," Ryland tried to take Avalon's hand off her hair but she kept pulling on it.

"I was _so_ scared, Daddy! I was so scared!" The tears streamed down Avalon's face. "Everybody was prodding me like a-an experiment! They-they stabbed me with needles! They starved me! It was cold, it was hot! And I just wanted them to _stop_!" Her voice cracked in the end, but all in all she sounded like a terrified child when she burst into sobs. "But then I-I can't remember everything but...I _know_ they did things to me, bad things. I don't want to go back there!"

"And you're not going to," Ryland promised her, almost crying himself because of her. He allowed Avalon to sit up so he could hug her tightly. "Nobody is ever going to touch you again. Not on our watch."

~ 0 ~

Melody stepped into a the admittedly nice building. Her eyes raked over the neat hallways and cheery decorations. It seemed to be very busy with employees - nuns - coming in and out of rooms. Patients, or inhabitants, were out making their daily lives. They looked happy. It seemed like a nice place to live... _for now_. She turned sideways, meeting her parents' gaze and the Doctor's. "This is it, then? This is where I have to stay?"

"It looks like fun," the Sapling made the comment to lift the spirits.

"It's your basic home for, well, anybody who needs it," the Doctor explained. "The Sisters here will help you make your way, whatever path you want to take."

Melody knew what he meant. Even though she knew about an important part of her future, the choice was still hers. "I _am_ sorry," she said, even though it pained her to admit that she was wrong. "You have no idea what Kovarian is like...she doesn't take 'no' for an answer. She doesn't show mercy which is why I can't understand why she decided to wipe Avalon's memories. She had her for months and...she just erased it?"

"She did it for a reason," the Doctor muttered. Kovarian didn't do anything without a reason.

"But she didn't do a very good job because Avalon still remembers bits and pieces," Melody said, not understanding herself. Avalon didn't seem to have all her memories but she remembered what kind of torture strategies they used on her.

"That's her biology at work," the Doctor sighed. He had no doubt that within the coming months, Avalon would begin to remember more of her time with Kovarian.

"I wish I would've known," Melody looked at her parents. "I _didn't_ know. But after spending years with Kovarian breathing over my shoulder, I learned the best way to survive is to just follow her orders."

"You're forgiven for everything," the Doctor assured her. He could see the guilt in her eyes from a mile away.

"Absolutely," Amy moved towards Melody and took her into a big hug. It soon brought Rory over as well. "None of it was your fault," Amy promised.

"But I just...I don't understand," Melody pulled away. "How could Avalon be _my_ daughter? I don't...I don't even want kids. They're kind of annoying." The others chuckled, but she wanted to point out that she was being _very_ serious.

"Well, that's up to you," the Doctor said, but Melody folded her arms over her chest and settled a sharp look on him.

"Mhm. You snogged my daughter and you expect me to believe that you don't care one tiny bit whether or not I have her?"

The Doctor's face flushed at the reminder. It made Melody smirk, much like Avalon would. "Well, I-I didn't mean to..." Truth be told, he would hardly call what happened between him and Avalon a _kiss_. There'd been two kisses and while the first one _was_ a more of a kiss but it'd only happened because Avalon was brainwashed into doing it, not because she wanted to. And the second one? Well, he'd been dying. He could hardly remember it. It hurt his hearts realizing it.

"Oh forget it," Melody sighed deeply when she saw the Doctor getting lost in his thoughts. "I'll stay here for a bit, then, if that's what it takes to keep her safe. Whether she's my daughter or my friend, I _do_ care about Avalon. I had to do what I had to do to keep us both alive."

"I believe you," the Doctor assured her.

"And...the Sapling...I didn't mean to take your family," Melody looked at the tree child. He no longer held contempt for her, but she wanted to make sure that he understood her. "I know exactly what that feels like and I never want to do that to a child."

The Sapling nodded and offered her a smile. "I believe you. You helped save my parents. Plus, your my grandmother."

" _Oooh_ _,_ that hurts," Melody put a hand over her chest. "That word hurts."

"Imagine _great_ -grandmother," Amy muttered and shared a small laugh with her.

"So, Doctor, how long do I have to wait until I can see Avalon and apologize to her too?" Melody looked at the Time Lord anxiously. She didn't like the idea of being far away when Avalon was recovering from a situation she helped create.

"For a while," the Doctor answered, knowing that it wasn't the answer she wanted to hear. "The Silence and Kovarian are still out there and until we capture them, you shouldn't see Avalon. Plus, you might have your own Avalon to deal with further along your timeline."

Melody smirked. "Oh boy."

"But don't worry, she'll know that it wasn't your fault either."

"And what about the fact that I'm her Mother? Will she know that too?"

"Do you _want_ her to know?" the Doctor challenged. The choice was entirely upon Melody because as far as he knew, it didn't matter from this point on if Avalon learned who her mother was.

Melody pursed her lips together. "I...don't know. I mean, if she wants to know then...I suppose I have no right hiding that from her. I owe her that much. So, if she asks, if she wants to know, you tell her. But you make sure-" she pointed a finger at him, "-that she knows that I do love her. She's been my friend for so many years, she shouldn't doubt that."

"Okay," the Doctor nodded. "Well, I guess it's time for us to go."

Melody faced her parents with a sad smile. "I'll see you around, then?"

"Definitely," Amy promised. "Stay out of trouble, Miss."

"Seriously," Rory warned her. "Out of it. Don't even think of getting into it!"

Melody laughed. "I'll try my best. But you know me...it _calls_ me." She walked over to give them both a hug. While they said goodbye, the Doctor took the Sapling with him back to the TARDIS. The Ponds would need a moment to say goodbye to their daughter.

"Are we going to see Mother now!?" the Sapling hopped excitedly up to the console.

"Yeah," the Doctor went straight to the console. He shouldn't have done it but he downloaded his biography from the Teselecta archive. Now he knew exactly what he was in for, and it was not pretty. But so long as Avalon was kept out of it, he didn't care what was coming for him.

~ 0 ~

When Ryland emerged from from Avalon's hospital room, he spotted the Doctor, Amy, Rory and the Sapling coming down the hallway. He immediately searched for the woman responsible for all this mess, but she wasn't there. And she wouldn't be coming back soon, that much he could tell from Amy's and Rory's distraught faces. The Sapling didn't waste time and scurried down the hallway, straight into Avalon's room before anyone could tell him anything. He wanted to see his Mother so badly!

"Where is she?" Ryland still asked the group when they joined him. He didn't have to say her name for them to know he meant River.

"Somewhere, making her own way now," the Doctor said, glancing over his shoulder to the Ponds. It hurt them badly to let their daughter go, but it was the best thing they could for Melody and Avalon.

"Is she alright?"

"Yes, in what fits."

Ryland nodded then sighed. "Avalon's woken up, though she's been in and out of consciousness. The Silence, Kovarian - they did a number on my niece." His heart broke when he first saw Avalon's arms, when she _sobbed_ about how terrified she'd been. "I want them to pay. _All_ of them."

The sentiment was shared amongst the others, but they knew that they literally had to _wait_.

"It's a tricky thing, Ryland," the Doctor began, looking unsure himself...because he was. "Kovarian has created the perfect game here. We can't strike because of Time. We make one wrong move and both Melody and Avalon go ' _poof_!'." He did the hand gesture for effect, but he was sure the word was more than enough to make a point. "And that's not what we want, right?"

Ryland sighed with exasperation. "Of course not! But we can't just let this stand!"

"Oh, we _won't_ ," the Doctor said, his voice dropping low. "You better believe that I'm going after them."

Ryland wasn't one to doubt him, so he nodded but there was still heavy concern in his eyes when he glanced back at Avalon's room. "She's really hurt. I trust this hospital but I'm also scared. She lost her entire immune system. She has zero defenses."

"But we can fix that," Rory finally spoke up but then he realized that Avalon's biology was a bit out of his element so he looked at the Doctor just to be sure. "Right?"

"Yes, of course we can," the Doctor nodded. "But I'm going to need to take Avalon away for a while," he told Ryland, knowing that the man wouldn't be so happy about that detail.

And true to that, Ryland's mouth opened to argue. "But we just got her back!"

"And like you said, she doesn't have any defenses. Earth is filled with bacteria and germs that she cannot fight right now. The TARDIS is a sterile place where I can monitor her at all times, where we-" the Doctor gestured behind him to Amy and Rory, "-will look after her and raise her health. Physically and mentally."

Because of course there was no way in hell the Ponds would let go of the only piece they had of their daughter. Both Amy and Rory nodded affirmatively. Where Avalon went, they went. Period.

"I _am_ a nurse," Rory reminded Ryland. "I know exactly what humans need. I'll help take good care of Avalon."

"I don't suppose I have a choice," Ryland mumbled, but he did realize that the TARDIS was the safest spot for Avalon at the moment. "But will you bring her when she gets better?"

"You have my word," the Doctor promised, raising his hand in the air. It would be some time before Avalon could leave sterile rooms, but he would bring her back to Earth the moment she could withstand it.

Ryland nodded. "Thank you. And...thank you for bringing her back. All of you." The Doctor gave a slight nod of his head but it was easy to see that he didn't feel like he actually did anything. He hadn't found Avalon, _she_ had found _him_. "I trust you, Doctor. And you," Ryland gave Amy and Rory a half smile. "I trust that you'll keep her safe." He gave Avalon's door another glance before motioning them to go inside. "See if she's awake. I assume there's plenty to talk about."

That was an understatement. Still, the three of them took in some deep, brave breaths and headed for Avalon's room.

Avalon was asleep but with the Sapling's movements and whispers, she would end up waking up. Seeing the tree child did bring out a smile, which was all anyone wanted right now.

"Hey, don't try to move so much," Rory took the nearest seat beside her bed. "You gotta save your strength."

"Ugh, now you're sounding like my Dad," Avalon licked her chapped lips then made a face after it stung her. "I really need chapstick. Actually...I really need and want a bath."

"Lavender scented bath bombs await in the TARDIS," Amy promised her. She'd taken the opposite side and grabbed Avalon's hand first chance she got. There was a different feeling Amy got now that she knew who Avalon was. Maybe it was the part of her motherhood that she didn't get to live out with Melody, or maybe it was just the grandmother part of her too. She wanted to protect Avalon and be there for whatever Avalon might need.

"Mm, sounds nice," Avalon drew in a breath but it stung as well. "My entire body hurts. Even breathing hurts - how pathetic is that?"

"Don't say that," the Doctor spoke up for the first time, and it was only because that had come out automatically. He didn't want Avalon feeling bad for anything that happened. "You don't say anything like that, got it? Because you have no reason to put yourself down."

Avalon's gaze lowered the moment his eyes landed on her. She couldn't fathom looking at anyone right now. She was guilty. And embarrassed. "I'm sorry guys," her apology came in the form of a frail whisper. "I couldn't save Melody and I let them brainwash me."

"Avalon, this wasn't your fault," Rory reached for Avalon's other hand.

The Sapling squirmed his way around Amy's chair, going under Amy's arm that was holding Avalon's hand, until he was right next to his Mother. "Mother, you shouldn't cry. It was the bad people's fault."

"But neither of you have Melody because I couldn't hold onto her," Avalon raised her head, showing new tears in her eyes. "I had her in my arms and Kovarian ripped her away from me. I took care of her for a week and then I never saw her again. I'm so sorry."

Amy couldn't help the tears in her own eyes. "Avalon, the same thing happened to me and I'm her _mother_. But Kovarian was too smart. But hey, she's okay now and she's going to make her own way. This is where River Song starts and we'll be seeing her around."

"I didn't get to apologize to her," Avalon glanced at the Doctor. "Could I see her, please? I-I really want to talk to her. River's saved me so many times and the one chance I had to save her...I didn't do it."

"She doesn't blame you - actually, she's mad as hell with Kovarian," he gave her a soft smile. "You're so alike, actually."

Avalon would've smiled but instead of seeing him, she saw his dying body in Berlin. The tears doubled and whether she wanted to or not, she sniffled all over again. "Doctor, I'm so sorry! I nearly killed you! I-I didn't know I was going to do it but I'm so sorry!"

The Doctor forgot all about his own guilt for the moment as he moved up to her bed to hug her. Amy and Rory let go of Avalon's hands and the moment they did, Avalon clung to the Doctor's arms. Even the Sapling had leaned away, more on his great-grandmother's side, to give his parents some space.

"You're good, Avalon. You are so good, don't ever think that I will reproach you for anything," the Doctor kissed Avalon's messy hair.

"But I-I poisoned you-"

"-and you saved my life," the Doctor pulled away to give her a small smile. He poked her forehead, something that brought out a teary-eyed smile from her. "And now you lost your ability to heal people."

"I don't care," she said, sounding pretty damn certain about it too. "I saved you. I would do it again if I had to."

"I recommend you don't," the Doctor's gaze turned sharp just at the idea of her having to do it again. Next time, she might just use up all of her regenerations, however many she had. " _I'm_ the Fairy Tale Man. _I_ will do the saving around here. And I'm sorry I didn't do that before Kovarian hurt you so much."

Avalon completely let go of him to see her bruised and stitched arms. She screwed her eyes shut for a moment to push away any of those memories. "I can't remember everything...but I know that they hurt me. I can see some of it. I hate her so much."

"We're going to find her," Amy promised, her teeth gritting together as the raw fury crept over her. It only faltered when she saw the brief terror in Avalon's eyes. "But she's not going to hurt you again. She's going to have go through all of us first." Everyone nodded, including the Sapling.

"You stay far away, Mister," Avalon wagged a finger at the Sapling, relishing in his childlike giggle. She missed him. "I may be a terrible mother but I will still do my best to keep you away from danger." At the mention of 'mother', the others exchanged nervous glances. Avalon noticed it fairly quick and arched an eyebrow at them. "What is it?"

"Uum..." the Doctor would be brave and take the lead in the conversation. "You mentioned that your memory's a bit foggy?" Avalon nodded. "Do you remember if Kovarian mentioned anything about, I don't know, your parents?"

Avalon crinkled her nose. "No. Why would she?"

"Just curious," the Doctor checked for Amy's and Rory's reactions. He'd continue if they wanted him to...and they seemed to want him to. _Oh boy._

"What's going on?" Avalon saw their discreet glances with each other. "What _more_ is going on?"

"Avalon...we, uh...blimey, there's not an easy way to say it but...we know about your real Mother and..." the Doctor watched her face go pale - paler than what it already was - then was quick to go for anger.

"I told you I didn't want to know!" she practically snarled.

"But things are different now," Amy chimed in for the sake of her daughter.

"Yeah, I'm a murderer!" Avalon shot the Doctor a look. "I nearly murdered you and you want talk about my...my Mother?"

"Actually, her and-"

_"No_!" she yelled. "You know what? I do remember Kovarian mentioning something about that. My mother abandoned me because she didn't care about me."

"That's not true," Amy scowled, but in doing so it made Avalon even more angry.

"How would you know? Nobody abandoned you!"

"Because I know who she is and she didn't leave you behind!"

" _Amy_ ," Rory's voice was warning her to watch what she would say. Amy was distraught over their situation, more so by the fact Avalon would still believe in the lie that River abandoned her. But there was a reality that none of them were facing yet, one that nobody had asked out loud. River didn't abandon Avalon, okay, but then _why_ did she give Avalon away?

Avalon squeezed her eyes shut. She tried to remember moments with Kovarian but her mind was all jumbled up and everything was fuzzy. She couldn't remember even if she truly wanted to. "My life is in pieces right now and I don't want it to be broken into smaller fragments. Please leave it alone. _Please_." Her begging reminded her a lot of when she had to beg for people not to slice her skin, or when she had Melody taken away from her, or pretty much every time she was in pain. New tears rolled down her cheeks and even if she couldn't move a lot, she put her best efforts to scoot towards the Doctor, trying to reach for his closest hand. "Please just forget about it. I don't want to know. I-I don't want to know!"

The Doctor wouldn't further victimize her like Kovarian had. He gave her a reassuring nod that he would not say anything. It brought her such relief that she thanked him over and over again, like he'd just saved her life. He checked Amy's and Rory's expressions and he wasn't surprised to find them grim. Their granddaughter hated their daughter because of a lie.

The Silence had ruined them from top to bottom and he let it happen.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Yes, I did _that_ \- please don't hurt me! Avalon lost her healing abilities and sophisticated, New Earth immunity system, uh-oh! And Kovarian erased Avalon's memories (even though some of them are still seeping through)...anyone wanna take a guess on why she would do that? We'll find out the real reason much later on! And just so we're clear, 5 months passed for Avalon while 4 months passed for everyone else.

So the next few chapters will be original but we're still on the Silence track; it's a-coming! And I'm always open to predictions from you guys, they're so fun to read xD

**P. S:** As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is " **noble-crescent** " and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	16. Heart to Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor, Amy and Rory all put their collective efforts to help build Avalon's immune system again as well as her mental health. Avalon is at her lowest in her life but instead of having the one person she needs at her side, he isolates himself from her.

Amy was as gentle as she could be when dealing with Avalon's hair. She passed the brush through Avalon's curls and made sure to untangle - again, as gently as possible - any curls fused together.

"I think I got it," she said proudly as she finished the last strands near Avalon's left ear. "Yeah, Amy vs. Monster Curls, Amy wins!" she scooted to Avalon's left side to see what Avalon would say, but Avalon only weakly smiled.

Amy internally sighed. Her granddaughter had taken to a quiet, reclusive state and it was killing her (and everyone else). Everyone understood that Avalon would meed ample time to recover from Kovarian's treatments both physically and mentally, but it was not easy to watch. Avalon was always loud and assertive, full of sarcasm and laughs, but for the past 3 weeks she didn't do a lot of that.

She would smile here and there but it never lasted more than a few minutes. She talked for a few minutes then would fall silent and would eventually become distant as if her thoughts were somewhere else. And they probably were. Every time she got lost, they assumed she would think about - or remember - her time with Kovarian. It was confirmed when her eyes would tear up or her recently healed peach skin would revert back to pale, almost white, shade she had in Berlin. And it was definitely confirmed when she woke up screaming in the middle of the night.

So they did what they could to ease her, to bring her back to some level of normality.

For starters, Avalon was remanded to the TARDIS until her immune system was up to a decent level. No more New Earth immune system meant she was back to zero as her human ancestors, only worse because human babies had _vaccinations_...she had none. The Doctor started her off with the present-day vaccinations that Amy and Rory would've had at the proper age. She crinkled her nose each time the Doctor would inject her with a new vaccination, something that wouldn't go unnoticed by him. He assumed it was yet another reminder of what she'd been through so he tried to make things the least painful as he could.

And when she wasn't getting vaccinations, she was _sleeping. A lot._ Avalon had never slept so much in her life! She was astonished at how many hours she was getting each day but the Doctor (and Rory) assured her that it was completely normal given how she spent her last 5 months. And it was true, Avalon could feel how exhausted she was. She had no problem falling asleep these past few weeks.

Right now was one of the few moments where Avalon was lucid enough to understand what was going on. Amy had suggested they finally do something about Avalon's untamed hair. Over the past few weeks, Avalon hadn't done anything to her appearance and though it was understandable, Amy knew that somewhere inside it was killing Avalon " _looking like a mess_ " as she had stated every so often. Amy thought since she knew nothing about being a nurse and she was nowhere near the Doctor's level, she should focus on what she did know and what would help Avalon as much as the other things.

Avalon was a very pretty woman and now that Amy knew she was her granddaughter, Amy thought Avalon was beyond a beautiful woman who deserved to feel like it. So, there she was with a brush and some extensive hair products.

"Where'd you even get these?" Avalon asked as she lifted one silver bottle off her bed.

"The TARDIS made them appear," Amy said and just a second later they both heard the TARDIS humming to confirm the story.

"She's been very helpful," Avalon said with a slight smile. The TARDIS was on alert for anything Avalon needed, making it so that Avalon would have to walk the least amount possible and she would take care of items that Avalon needed. For example, her room was now equipped with all of the books Avalon would usually read and of course she stocked shelves with new books for the girl. Along with that, a new television had appeared one day with an automatic setting to play Avalon's movies.

Avalon didn't need to get out of bed unless she was heading for the medbay. It was _really_ annoying, but she appreciated everybody's intentions.

"Okay, I think that should do it," Amy scooted off the bed and stood up to admire her work. "Curls should be back to their full power in a matter of time!"

Avalon touched one of her curls and did admit that it felt like it'd wilted on her in the last 5 months. "Thank you. Although now I smell like a fruit platter considering all the scents of these things." She tapped the hair products around her.

"Well, nobody will doubt that you've taken baths!"

Avalon rolled her eyes but she did smile wider than before. "If only we could do something about the pajamas I can't seem to get out of." She gestured to her current choice of attire - that hadn't been much of her choice really - and sighed. She wore a satin, soft turquoise colored pajama set with shorts. The shirt was a spaghetti strap but her ginger hair covered most of her arms anyways. If it'd been up to her, she would've been wearing long sleeves to cover up her ugly arms, but everybody said it would be easier when it came to vaccinations and exams.

"What's the matter? They're so pretty!" Amy said, almost adding 'it's so Avalon' if her granddaughter hadn't sighed again.

"I feel like a frikin Victoria Secret model or something." Avalon knew she was definitely _not_ that, not right now. She was nowhere near pretty right now. She'd hit rock bottom-

She winced. Maybe rock bottom was still reserved for a special lake that was coming in 200 years.

"Which, you could be!" Amy took a seat on the bed again, this time in front of Avalon, with a big grin on her face. "You could be anything you want to be!"

Avalon studied Amy's face just like she always did when Amy got too...enthusiastic. "Why are you acting like that?" she would ask every time as well.

Amy, following the routine, would nervously laugh as if Avalon had said the funniest joke. "What? I'm just trying to cheer you up!"

"Yeah I get that," Avalon clarified. Of course everyone wanted to cheer her up, but there was something different about Amy's way of doing it...and Rory's. They were both acting weirder than usual. "But what else is it?"

"Nothing," Amy calmed herself down. She needed to get the hang of this secret grandmother thing quick or else Avalon might figure it out. It was scary to know that Avalon might hate her and Rory for who they were, because of what Avalon thought her mother did to her. The mere thought was terrifying for Amy. She already lost her baby, she _couldn't_ lose her granddaughter too.

"You're lying," Avalon said matter-of-factly, but it didn't sound like she would continue arguing. She was too tired for that stuff right now.

"I just want you to feel better," Amy went with the truth. Granddaughter or not, Amy hated seeing Avalon so down. She didn't deserve anything that happened to her. They had an obligation to Avalon to make her feel better, to bring her back to the woman she used to be. "And since I'm terrible at medical stuff, I will take care of you in another way." She tucked Avalon's hair behind her shoulders and smiled like they were having the time of their life. "Seriously, very pretty!"

"Knock, knock!" Rory opened the door - that was left ajar for whatever reason Avalon might need them - with his left foot and walked in with a breakfast tray in his hands. "It's time for breakfast!"

"Yay," Avalon mumbled and watched the whole show Rory and Amy put together for her every day without fail.

Rory came over to Avalon's side and waited for Amy to scoot Avalon back against the headboard of the bed. With a sigh, Avalon let Amy pull the covers up to her waist and then stepped back so that Rory could set the breakfast tray.

"We've got some cut-up cantaloupe and kiwis for your immune system! Red-pepper omelets are perfect right now that we want to keep any colds away and give you another source of Vitamin D. Did you know that a cup of chopped red peppers actually contains more than twice of Vitamin C than an orange does? Not to mention you'll also be getting a good source of Vitamin A to help strengthen your mucosal cells. And those are basically the first line of defense in your body when a bacteria is trying to invade it. But don't worry, I also brought you some plain - but fresh - organic orange juice!"

"Mmm, that sounds delicious," Amy rubbed her stomach with the same grin on her face from before.

"You guys are so weird," Avalon looked at them both and couldn't help the laugh that slipped through her mouth. Her grandparents would take it!

"Eat!" Rory picked up the fork and held it for her to take. "All of it! And for lunch I'm thinking salmon, Beet hummus and for dessert some mango pudding?"

Avalon scrunched her face as she took the fork from him. "I'll take the salmon and the mango pudding but hold the beet hummus. Forever."

"In your dreams," Rory motioned her to start eating.

"This really isn't necessary," Avalon said as she picked up some cantaloupe. It was her favorite fruit so she would start with that.

"Yeah it is," Rory pointed her to get some kiwis as well. "I'm serving you things specifically for your immune system and to build up the muscle you lost. I think we're doing good, though. Your appetite wasn't lost which is a huge thing!"

"Thanks," Avalon said after taking a bite of her omelet. He really did know how to cook. She gave her friends an honest smile after realizing she was being ungrateful. Yes, they were basically driving her crazy but she knew they loved her and they just wanted her to be okay. "Seriously, thank you. I'm being a pain in the ass but I _am_ grateful. I do appreciate everything you're doing. If you could just, though, maybe dial it back a bit?"

Yeah, they could stand to do that.

Amy sighed. "Yeah, we're sorry. We're overdoing it."

"We want you to make a full recovery," Rory explained as if Avalon didn't know.

"Well thank you, but you don't need to do all of this. It's been weeks of nonstop catering to me and while I do like being catered to...I understand that I am, sadly, _not_ a princess so...I can do things by myself."

Her grandparents chuckled together.

"We just like helping you," Amy said. "And besides, none of us want to go anywhere if you're not ready. And according to the Doctor, you're not ready."

"...did he tell you that?" Avalon's voice had softened suddenly, but it usually did when their conversations ended with the Doctor. "Because he hasn't told me anything. Hasn't talked to me since Berlin." Avalon slowly stopped eating at the reminder.

A part of the Ponds were irritated with the Doctor for doing that. They had no idea _why_ he was doing that! They would've figured that after everything, the Doctor wouldn't leave Avalon's side for _anything_. After all, no one had wanted to find her as much as he did...but it was the opposite now.

The Doctor kept true to his word about helping Avalon recover. He had started vaccinating her slowly, and carefully, while also running other tests to finally get a full grasp of Avalon's biology. Of course they had to hide Avalon's true nature because of her own choice to not know about her parents. But that was all the Doctor did. It's what he _limited_ himself to do: work. Just work, because how else could he face her? Each time he ran a test on her or had to vaccinate her, he got a fresh reminder - a visual example - that he had ruined her in the worst ways possible. He had taken her mother and he had taken an actual part of her. She lost one of her greatest abilities, an ability that constantly kept her healthy. Plus, he was there each time she would remember something new about Kovarian's treatment. He saw all the terror she still had. He had thoroughly screwed her over.

Avalon took his distance the worst way possible: she assumed that he was angry with her for what she did. Sure he told her that he didn't blame her but who's to say that after some time to properly think about it he didn't change his mind? That's what could happen. And she couldn't blame him. What she did was terrible, absolutely terrible. She nearly killed him, she _would've_ killed him if Melody hadn't told her the cure. She deserved anything that happened to her from this point on. She could only wait for the day the Doctor wouldn't be able to stand her anymore and finally dropped her off home.

It was incredible that despite having her two friends - her grandparents - she felt utterly alone. But Avalon preferred it this way because if she had Lena around, she would sob to no end. Lena wanted to come along but she stayed behind to give Avalon space to rest and assimilate what happened. Plus, she had spent her own 4 months in nonstop search so she had some resting to do as well. But still, Avalon could do with some fake sister time.

"When can I go see my family?" she asked the Doctor one day during another vaccination.

The Doctor had just finished preparing the syringe and walked over to Avalon. She was sitting despite his insistence that she should lay down to continue resting. Even when she was fragile, she still had some resistance. "You still need some time before you can leave the TARDIS," he responded, but even that was brief and limited. If he went on and she begged, he would do whatever she wanted. He was sure of it. "You'll feel a pinch," he warned just like he always did.

Avalon gave a nod right before she felt the needle prick her skin. "It hurt," she said just to keep the conversation going, otherwise he'd shut down on her again. The stretching silence turned out to be unbearable.

But still, all the Doctor did was give her a small smile, saying something like, "I'm sorry," and then he would turn back for the medical tables. "So from your last test there was nothing really significant except for the fact you tested positive for a fish allergy."

"I'm allergic to fish now?" Avalon arched an eyebrow at him. "But I've always had fish...I love salmon. Rory's making that for lunch."

The Doctor gave her a look saying that would have to stop. She no longer held that amazing capability of immunity for everything, including allergies. She sighed and nodded. "I'm sorry," he said, not that it mattered. He would say that each time she was in the medbay and he would have to prod her for a new test and vaccine. "You should be good for the day," he said after a moment. "The Sapling said you and him were going to watch movies today. I think that's a good idea."

"Would you like to join us?" Avalon asked with the tiniest of hopes that this time he would finally say yes. Each time she asked him to come around for some lounging time, he would say no. He would make up some excuse running along the lines of "I need to study your test results" or "The TARDIS needs some maintenance" and the one that she could almost believe "I'm searching for Kovarian". They could all be true but Avalon doubted that it was always the same thing whenever she asked.

"Not today, thanks," he settled for a simple response but made sure to look away from her sad eyes afterwards. She always gave him the same disappointed face that he knew she wasn't even aware of.

"You know even though I've been stuck in here for a month, it feels like I haven't really seen you," she said quietly. "You're always working."

"It's what needs to be done!" the Doctor shot her a brief smile as he purposely moved towards a farther table.

"Yeah but...you nearly died too. Shouldn't you be resting too or something?"

"No, not really. Whatever poison I had, your immune system killed it."

"Yeah, I seem to do that a lot," her murmur froze the Doctor. He looked over his shoulder and saw her gaze had fallen to the ground. He wasn't able to see her eyes but he could tell she was falling into her guilt again.

"Avalon, I think...I think you should go rest," he said after catching himself take one step towards her. What was he planning on doing? Hugging her? Telling her it was alright? Nothing was okay. She was miserable and it was his fault. The best thing he could - the best thing he _was_ doing - was to stay away from her. She should spend her time with her grandparents who were almost as miserable as she was. They needed each other.

Avalon raised her gaze but found he had his back to her. He wasn't even looking at her anymore. That's how it usually went nowadays. She quickly wiped some tears away and hopped off the med bed. She made to leave but stopped to ask the one other question she always did. "When can I see River?"

Nobody would listen to her when she expressed how much she wanted to apologize to River. She understood that she couldn't see 'Melody' but that didn't mean she couldn't see a later version of River.

"You know the answer to that," the Doctor's tone was hard, leaving no room for discussion. It was the one thing that he could stand his ground and say a clear 'no'. Now more than ever, Avalon needed to stay inside the TARDIS away from Melody and any early version of River. When more time passed by for Avalon, the Doctor promised himself that he would arrange a meeting for Avalon and an older version of her mother so they could talk, but just not right now.

And his answer evoked Avalon's further irritation. "I can't do anything!" she shouted. She wasn't five but she sure felt like one right now!

"Not true. The Sapling is waiting for you in the rec room. Enjoy yourself but hold off on the sugar for now." With his back to her, the Doctor missed the glare she sent him.

 _We'll see about that_ , she inwardly huffed as she stalked off.

Avalon hurried back to her room and promptly locked her door. When she turned around she was surprised to find a brilliant red cape coat lying on the foot of her bed. Before she could even wonder where it came from, the TARDIS hummed to confess.

A smile wrote itself across Avalon's face. Her eyes flickered to the ceiling. "You're the only one who gets me. Thanks for always being on my side." The TARDIS gave a gentle hum while her granddaughter hurried to get changed.

~0~

Avalon didn't exactly know what she was going to do, but she thanked her lucky stars that she remembered the way to the precise cell she wanted to get to. It was also very lucky that there weren't any guards around. It did make Avalon stop and question how this was rated as the most secure prison if there weren't any guards around.

_Focus! God knows how much time you'll have before they figure it out!_

She strode down the spacious corridor, flinching each time somebody called her from a different cell. She eventually went down in sprints, only stopping until she found the right cell.

She curled her arms around the cell bars and looked inside. Sure enough, she found who she was looking for. "River?"

At the sound of her voice, River dropped her book into her lap. She sprung from her bed, frantic, and rushed up to the cell. " _What_ are you doing here?" Her voice was too sharp and possibly angry. It made Avalon flinch away. River realized her mistake and softened her voice the next time she spoke. "What are you doing here?" Her eyes searched past Avalon, but the ginger shook her head.

"It's just me. I snuck out."

"Of the TARDIS?" River asked, momentarily amused. Avalon would never do something like that, except when she wanted to do something the Doctor didn't necessarily agree with. "Why are you here?"

Avalon bit her lower lip, looking positively nervous. It was so unlike her but the more River studied Avalon's face, the more she realized how...different the ginger was. Her curls - though naturally untamed - were beyond tousled. Amy's struggle to bring it down was still an ongoing battle. Avalon's eyes were red and lips slightly chapped. Even the way Avalon breathed was wrong. River could hear the struggle from the other side of the cell.

"Where are you?" she finally asked the right question. "In the timelines, where are you?"

Avalon's head hung low in shame, and guilt. "A month after Berlin," she whispered so quietly that River barely heard her.

"Oh," River took an instinctive step backwards but it gave Avalon the wrong impression.

Her eyes were quick to water up. "You hate me too." River swore her lower lip quivered. This was not the Avalon she knew and loved, but it was the only version of herself that she could be given the circumstances.

"Hey, listen to me," River called as she went for something in the back of the cell. "And you better open up those ears, Avalon Reynolds, because I do _not_ hate you." She returned a couple seconds later with a key in her hand. It was the key to the cell. Avalon, stunned, could only watch as River easily opened up her cell. She then pulled Avalon inside and into a tight hug. "I will never hate you, sweetie."

Avalon sniffled and hugged her back. "Are you sure about that? After what I did-"

"- _you_ did nothing wrong," River pulled away so that Avalon could see her stern face. She needed Avalon to understand that or else she'd hate herself forever. "Nothing that happened is your fault, alright? The Silence did everything, Kovarian did everything, _not_ you." Avalon's tears still rolled down her cheeks, but River couldn't tell if it was because she didn't believe it or if it was because she was remembering her time with Kovarian. Neither option wasn't good. "Why are you here, dear?" she asked, once again gazing over Avalon's appearance. It was better than Berlin but still aghast.

"Because I didn't get to see you - Mels - after Berlin," Avalon bit on her lower lip again. "I-I wanted to talk to you but everybody said I couldn't. That it would be too dangerous. The Silence could be watching."

"They _are_ watching," River said quietly. She moved around Avalon to close the cell, without lock. When she turned back, she found Avalon rocking on her feet...involuntarily. "Avalon-" she'd only taken a few steps towards Avalon when the woman herself shook a hand at her.

"I'm just...I'm just gonna take a break…" her legs buckled as she attempted to sit down on the floor. Okay, so maybe she wasn't completely ready to be out of the TARDIS. She probably ran too much.

"It's dirty there," River said in panic and rushed to get Avalon back on her feet.

"No! Stop!" Avalon exclaimed. "I'm tired of beds. That's all I've seen for the last month! Just leave me here."

"But it's dirty," River reiterated with full concern. "Your immune system is-"

"I _know_ ," Avalon said sharply, now making it River's turn to flinch. "I just know, alright? My immune system is basically nonexistent. I remember. But I just...I just need someone to forget that for a moment."

River said nothing but came around and sat on the floor, crossing her legs like Avalon had. "Nice coat," she remarked, if only to see her daughter smile for a bit.

It worked.

A small smile spread across Avalon's face. She'd come in wearing the bright red cape coat the TARDIS gave her. She'd only put on a basic white long-sleeved shirt and some jeans, but it wasn't the point. The point was the coat. It was the fashionable side of her that the TARDIS _knew_ would lift Avalon's spirits a little. "Thanks. A gift from the TARDIS, apparently. Made it appear when she knew I was going out."

"Only you can pull that off. It's wonderful," River smiled.

"She's always liked me for some reason," Avalon remarked, distant with thoughts for a moment. "Ever since the beginning…" a light chuckle slipped through her lips suddenly, "She completely pissed the Doctor off when we first met. She chose me over him. Totally lost it with her."

River silently watched her daughter be happy just for a bit. If only she knew the TARDIS viewed her as an extension of itself. Like a granddaughter.

"I'm sorry River," Avalon's sudden apology pulled River's attention to the present.

"Sorry? For what?"

Avalon raised her head slightly. "For what happened to you. For what happened in Berlin."

"That's not on you, sweetie. It's not even on the Doctor. It just happened."

"Yeah but I...I could've helped save you. You know I had you - your baby self - in my arms and Kovarian took her away? I _had_ you. I could've held on tighter. I-I _could've_ -"

"I didn't need saving, Avalon. I want things to stay just like that," River reached for one of Avalon's hands. Her skin felt far too cold. "Because there are things that I looked forward to, you know. Things that I will love till the end of my life."

" _Lives_ ," Avalon found it in her to smile again. At least River would have ample time to live, especially when she finally got out of jail.

River laughed. "Right."

But Avalon's smile was shortlived. Her gaze fell to the ground again. River's heart ached for her daughter. Avalon was so crestfallen and she couldn't do much to lift her spirits. It wasn't that point in the timeline yet to reveal who she truly was.

Well a friend would still talk, so that's what she would do. "You snuck out of the TARDIS with what exactly?"

Avalon's eyes flickered to her left wrist. She pulled the fabric of her coat to reveal a vortex manipulator strapped to her wrist. It was the same one that the Doctor let her use for three days before she was invited to Lake Silencio. "The TARDIS gave it to me, though I assume she's letting me borrow it."

"You would assume right," River nodded. "The Doctor keeps that around for emergencies and because he hates for others to have it. They're not exactly the best."

"Well, it took me where I wanted to go," Avalon let the fabric of her coat fall over her arms again. "I'm just sorry it took me to the wrong you, otherwise I could've apologized sooner."

"You didn't need to apologize for anything, sweetie. It is literally impossible to hate you."

Avalon playfully rolled her eyes. "You sound just like the Doctor. He's said the same thing."

"Good, because if he's said anything remotely different I'll kick his ass. You just give me a call," River looked dead serious in her threats. Avalon had to smile but even then it wouldn't last long. River could see the guilt sitting in Avalon's eyes, no doubt increasing by the day. "You know that he doesn't hate you, right?" Avalon's shoulders did a small shrug. "Avalon," River's voice grew stern, but it had the opposite effect on Avalon instead.

Fresh tears came about and suddenly Avalon was sniffling. "He _should_! Or maybe he does already but he's just being merciful. Anyone who's tried killing the Doctor doesn't survive the story. I know, I've read them all." Avalon was positively scared of what could happen later on when her health was better, when the Doctor could show his true feelings.

"Oh, that is never happening!" River exclaimed, stunned to hear that Avalon could even consider such an idea.

"I nearly killed him, River. It was seconds away and-and most people-"

"Freeze," River ordered. She had cupped Avalon's face, forcing the young woman to look her in the eyes. "You are not just anybody. You are Avalon Reynolds."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Avalon sniffed. "I'm nobody. But I'm the nobody who nearly killed the Doctor. I should be in jail too." Who knows, maybe that's where future her was headed too. Why else would the future Doctor come to Lake Silencio all on his own? She would _never_ let him go to his death.

"No-"

"Yes!" Avalon swatted River's hands off her face. "Because I committed attempted murder. I nearly hurt him. I _did_."

"But it's not your fault. He knows that and I'm sure he's told you that too. Besides, c'mon," River's lips curled into a knowing smile, "As _if_ the Doctor could ever be mad at you. He can't be. It's literally your superpower, sweetie. Use it wisely."

Avalon didn't fall into the ruse of the joke. She just waved River off and looked away. "I have nothing when it comes to him. There's nothing between us and after what happened in Berlin, I doubt there'll ever be."

Now River scowled. Where did the Doctor get off making her daughter feel so hopeless? The next time she saw him - whatever version of him it was - she would slap him. "Avalon, listen to me, seriously. I know your brain is a bit frazzled-"

"Try ' _fried_ '," Avalon muttered.

"Okay, but listen. I have seen all kinds of versions of you and the Doctor. You two are quite the pair, you know? You drive each other mad sometimes but it doesn't pull you in opposite directions. You're alike too, maybe that's why you butt heads sometimes. Neither of you can stay still for more than five minutes, you're both impulsive and don't even get me started on the stupid things you've done together. Although I _will_ give you that sometimes they're done for good reasons. But you know what? All of the versions of the Doctor I've seen, _all_ of them, are linked by one thing. Do you know what that is?"

Avalon stared at her with no such idea.

"The Doctor shares something with your family, with your friends: he _loves_ you. He loves you so, _so_ much that he would literally rip the world apart for you. And that's not something to treat lightly."

Avalon's entire face went red and no matter how much she tried to be casual about it, she just couldn't fool River. Her mother laughed.

"Well don't be embarrassed. Be happy about it!"

But Avalon felt like that couldn't be right. It _couldn't_. Why would the Doctor love someone like _her_? She was no one. Whatever his ganger had told her a long time ago couldn't be true anymore. She tried killing him, she _hurt_ him. "I can't believe that..."

"Well you should cos I'm from the future!"

"But it's just...the way he's been acting with me...it's like he doesn't want to be around me." Avalon bit her lower lip as if it were gum. "And that's what scares me. When he's properly mad, scary mad, he shuts down and then...then he gives you a look." Yes, now River was sure she saw Avalon's lip quivering. "I'm afraid he's just waiting for me to get better so he can give me _that_ look; so he can show me how angry he is with me."

"N-n-n-no!" River tried to cut in but Avalon had given this a _lot_ of thought.

"Everyone always gets angry with me, I'm used to the disappointment look. I'm used to the looks of hatred. I've dealt with it my whole life but I don't know what I'm going to when _the Doctor_ gives me one of those looks, River! I can't...not him. Never from him!"

River was able to pull the girl into a hug just as she'd broken down. Avalon wept over River's shoulder, repeating her current terrors. River tried her best to soothe her daughter but sometimes her mother wasn't what she was looking for...sometimes Avalon just needed her Doctor.

And as terrible as it could sound, River felt jealous of the Doctor. He hadn't done anything to deserve it. She was actually grateful that there was someone who could comfort her daughter when she wasn't around, but a part of her would always resent the fact that _her_ chance to comfort Avalon was stolen. Kovarian and the Silence stole it from her. All the days she could've had with Avalon were stolen from her. Yes, Avalon's existence may not have come in the most orthodox way, but River loved her from the moment she knew she was pregnant. Avalon had been her hope that maybe then, at that point, she would start living an actual _good_ life. She would have her child, raise her to be the best woman she could be, and then see the world together. She would've given her daughter _everything_.

But the Silence had other plans.

She lost her daughter and any chance of being able to comfort her as a _mother_. She lost the chance to _be_ a mother, to hold her baby, to watch her baby say her first word, take her first step, her first day of school. Being there as 'Mels' the friend would never compare to being there as her _mother_. Emmalina Reynolds took that job over and she did it perfectly. River would never know what kind of mother she would've been like. Everything was stolen from her and she would never be able get those days back. And no matter how much time, no matter how many years passed by, the day she gave up her daughter would be the most painful day of her life. She had to build her relationship with Avalon _much_ later, when everything had been said and done. Right now was a moment where she had to be a mother in secret and it wasn't even done well. Avalon didn't see her as anyone but a friend. She _needed_ the Doctor. Only he could make her feel better.

Some time later, Avalon grew tired of crying. Her body was literally exhausted from such heavy movements and feelings. It was then that River was able to make her stand up but when she did, Avalon's legs buckled.

"Okay, gotcha!" River exclaimed as she grabbed Avalon by the waist and brought her to the bed. "Just sit there..." Avalon mumbled something about resting for a bit and let herself fall on the mattress. "Or-or lay down too, that's good. That's okay." With a sigh, River came closer and bent down beside Avalon. She'd fallen asleep, or fell unconscious, she wasn't sure. River passed a hand through Avalon's tight curls. She would need to get Avalon more of the Orchid product she always nicked from an offshore planet. Avalon loved it. "Now listen you stubborn girl," she scooted closer to her daughter, "Things are tough right now, I know, but this doesn't last forever. And I'm not going to lie, there will be more pain...but you wouldn't change it. You've told me yourself. It's your story. They're your _stories_. And one day, one day, someone will think of you as _their_ hero, the same way you think of the Doctor. But it all starts here, and I'm so sorry that I can't be there with you. I'm your mother, I should be there hugging you, giving you warm kisses, making you feel safe because that's what your mother is supposed to do." River's vision was blurry with tears when she pulled one of her blankets over Avalon's shoulders. She raged over the Silence and truly wished that she could end each and every one of them for what they did to Avalon. She had been caught in the crossfire and got burned. And River had been utterly powerless. The only choice she made, she made thinking solely about Avalon. That's what she always did, she always thought about Avalon. Even when Avalon didn't know her, hated her, or wanted nothing to do with her, River would always think about what was best for her.

And as River heard the TARDIS' wheezing, she knew she was making the best choice for Avalon. River only had to wait a few seconds before Amy, Rory and the Doctor showed up at her cell.

"You're late," River announced calmly as ever. She'd alerted the Doctor as soon as she went for the key to let Avalon in. It was ironic: future Avalon had given her a secret cellphone to have just in case things ever went wrong in Stormcage. The TARDIS would always let the calls come through. "She's been here for 20 minutes, plus the time it took her to find me."

"How'd she even get here!?" Amy had the same panic on her face as Rory. The only one who didn't look remotely surprised was the Doctor. He was kicking himself, actually, for not figuring Avalon would come here sooner rather than later.

"Well, come in," River motioned them. "Door's opened."

"What, she picked it?" Rory blinked at his passed out granddaughter on the bed.

"No, I opened it for her," River made him do a double take at her. "Yes, I have a key!"

The Doctor didn't do the talking until he could see for himself that Avalon was alright. He pulled the cell door opened and went straight to her. She felt cold and he feared that her body's temperature would once again start changing radically.

"We should've known she'd sneak out eventually," Amy sighed to herself. "The Sapling was right to be worried when she didn't show up for movies."

"She's okay," River told the Doctor while he checked for Avalon's pulse. "Just a bit tired from her sneaking out."

"How could you let her stay here?" he muttered but it was the worst mistake he could do at that moment.

River scoffed hard, making him wince. "This is _your_ fault! She is so scared of you because you won't talk to her!" The Doctor made as if her words carried no weight on him, but the Ponds didn't do the same.

"What's she talking about?" Rory inquired and didn't seem to be in the mood for silly excuses.

"Father, Mother, you two are doing a wonderful job taking care of Avalon, but maybe...just dial it back a bit," River smiled at her parents with an amusement that did relieve some of their concerns over their questionable care. "You know how she is. Maybe pull back a bit and give her some space to assimilate what happened."

"We'll try, trust us," Amy said.

"Always," River's automatic response startled both her and Rory. "I always trust you with my daughter, just as I hope that you trust me." As she ended that line she made sure to be giving the Doctor a specific look. "I know you are all so confused and you're trying to make sense of it, so I _really_ appreciate how much you're doing for Avalon."

"She's family," Rory said, shrugging his shoulders and offering River a kind smile.

River returned it and nodded. "Yeah. So take my daughter and make sure she doesn't try this again. I suspect she still has some more time before she can have a proper outing."

"On it. I was going to make lunch for her when the Doctor told us she was gone," Rory shook his head.

"Sounds good to me, but no fish. She's allergic to fish."

Rory and Amy simultaneously frowned in confusion. "No she isn't," they even said together.

"Yeah she is. Right, Doctor?" River's smile was smug because she knew he had yet to inform anyone, thus proving once again who she was.

"Yeah," the Time Lord relented. "New thing there, but nothing to worry about," he told the Ponds. "Just hold off on the salmon and any other fishies out there."

"O...kay then," Rory said, mentally making note of the things he would have to rearrange to accommodate this new detail.

"Rory, could you take her?" the Doctor asked after a moment. "I need a word with your daughter."

Rory checked for River and once she gave him the nod, he listened. "Alright. You take care, okay?" he said to River.

"You know I do," she gave him a quick hug and then her Mother. "And I would try orchid oil for the hair," she told Amy when they pulled apart.

Amy blinked with surprise. "What do you...?" But them it hit her: _of course_ River would know she was trying to help Avalon fix her hair. Amy chuckled and agreed to switch it up.

Rory carefully picked Avalon up into his arms, making sure to leave River's blanket behind. River stepped towards them before they would leave and gave Avalon a small kiss on her curly hair. She thanked her parents then watched them disappear inside the TARDIS. All this the Doctor had watched silently, studiously, as if he still had an inkling doubt of River's identity. Of course he was forcibly snapped out of it when River aggressively smacked his arm.

"OW!"

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" she hissed like a snake. "I don't know what lingering reservations you might have about me but make no mistake that I love my child. Everything I have done was done thinking about her and a good part was because of you, Doctor. The only thing I will ever ask of you in return is to look after her and make sure that she is happy. And right now, she's not happy. She's scared!"

The Doctor took a precautionary step back before River decided to use something beside her hand to hurt him. "I am trying my best! I've vaccinated her on a tight schedule, I've been scanning her nonstop to see if she has _any_ remnant of her healing abilities and I've ran other tests to _test_ her Time Lord abilities we had no idea of until now! So to answer your question, I've been helping her get better! And what do you mean she's scared of me!?"

Sometimes River wondered if he was actually stupid or just naturally clueless. It didn't matter what the answer was because whichever one it was, she always wanted to smack him for it. Of course Avalon put a stupid rule saying she couldn't hit him. Or shoot him.

"You don't see it, do you?" she had gone with the 'naturally clueless' choice. "Avalon is terrified that you're actually angry with her over what happened in Berlin."

"But - what!? I already told her I wasn't!" the Doctor argued defensively, not that it mattered to River.

"Given her state, don't you think it's something she needs constant reassurance about!?"

"Well, I-I wouldn't see...no! Well..." the Doctor stopped arguing to go over the moments he'd been with Avalon these past weeks. She hadn't been very expressing besides the constant pain of her healing body and the desire to see River. Plus, he _had_ already told her things were fine between them. "Why would she ignore my words at the hospital? I sincerely told her that everything was okay."

"Because she's scared, you idiot," River sighed. "She barely has recollection of what happened for 5 months of her life and _you_ are somebody very important to her. She also knows you lie. It's literally your number 1 rule."

"But I was very specific! There is no legitimate reason for her to not believe what I said!"

"I know, I know, but...would it kill you to just reassure her every now and then while she's in this fragile state?" River smiled for his sake. She wasn't angry and she knew he wasn't doing it on purpose. "I know it doesn't make sense and it's ridiculous she would think that but...let her have it. She wants reassurance, give it to her. If she needs you to say it every hour, do it. If she needs you to say every minute, do it. It'll make her happy, isn't that what you want?"

"Of course," the Doctor answered instantly, instinctively. He didn't care what he had to do so long as Avalon was happy.

His words widened River's smile. She backed up until she was at the cell door. "Then _go_ and tell her that you are not angry with her. And if you want to throw in ' _B_ _y the way, you want to go on a date sometime?_ ' I would completely give my blessing." The Doctor cocked his head to the side, eyes narrowing while River struggled not to laugh. "It was just too easy," she reasoned.

"It's not funny."

"It's really not." River leveled the Doctor's look until _he_ was unable to take it.

"I am not having this conversation! Especially not with _you_!" he made an attempt to leave and while River didn't stand in the way, her words did halt his feet.

"Well you should have it with somebody because you're driving yourself insane and what's more is that you're hurting the last person you ever want to harm." River arched an eyebrow just as the Doctor turned back. "I _know_ , Doctor. I always know. And I know that you would never admit this to Amy and Rory because you think that they'll still be against you. They're not. They will be surprised, though, but they would never reject you."

The Doctor did not want to have a heart to heart talk with _her_ , especially not her. She was Avalon's _mother_! It was weird! But somehow the words found a way to come out despite what his mind thought. "She's their only granddaughter. Rory has always been overprotective and you know what? He's right to be. I'm not even _with_ Avalon and she's already suffered because of _my_ enemies! I will _not_ make her a target for the bloody universe! _Not_ her!"

River nodded to acknowledge his words, his feelings. He was thinking logically and she wouldn't ever fault him for that. "Thing is, Avalon is my daughter. I have made a lot of enemies myself. Now they're going to go after her because that's just the way it works. But you know what? I pity them if they tried because Avalon is a force to be reckoned with. Maybe not right now, but at her best she is her _own_ person. She is not someone you need to protect 24/7. She is not somebody you need to see as a fragile doll. This is a storm, Doctor, and it _will_ pass. And at the end, when she's at her best, wouldn't you want to be right beside her?"

The Doctor said nothing but his expression counted for millions. He would want nothing more than _that_. Wherever Avalon was, he'd like to be too, just them together. If she was happy, he would love to hold her hand and enjoy whatever was making her happy. If she was down, he wanted to be at her side holding her and soothing her, whispering sweet nothings to her until she would give a smile. And when she was finally where she wanted to be in life, he would love to stand next to her and see all that she created. She was destined for something great, he always knew that, and if he could be at her side then the universe really did like him.

"Just stop holding back," River urged him. "Stop holding back for one minute and see how that goes."

"I...don't want to hurt her..."

"But you already _are_."

The Doctor froze in his spot. That was the _last_ thing he wanted to do. He looked over his shoulder where the TARDIS stood, where his Ava was and would no doubt wake up angrier than ever. He didn't even notice when his feet moved and turned him completely towards the box. Sometimes it truly _was_ an instinct to go to Avalon.

"I have to go," he mumbled his goodbye and headed for the TARDIS.

River smiled knowingly behind him. "Yes you do."

The Doctor snapped his fingers at her, without looking at her, and though he never said it, River knew that was his way of saying thank you. She rolled her eyes; he was _such_ an idiot. But...he was family.

~0~

Avalon was more than upset to find herself back in her room. _How_ could she blow it by getting _tired_!? How pathetic was that!? She constructed a very good escape plan only to be foiled by her tired feet. That was just embarrassing.

"It was actually very irresponsible," Amy corrected Avalon's last thought. "You can't go outside yet."

Avalon was slipping on a silky pink robe over her matching satin pink pajamas. It was back to _pajamas_. She eyed the red coat still hanging on the chair Amy threw it at. Apparently, everything needed to be washed because _outside germs_. "I just wanted to see River and since nobody was listening to me, I had to take matters into my own hands."

Amy was moving around the bedroom picking up everything Avalon discarded after coming back from Stormcage. "You would've eventually seen her, just not now. Right now you just need to focus on getting-"

"-better, I know!" Avalon snapped, not that she meant to but things were getting very tiresome. Still, she offered Amy an apologetic look. "I understand but I'm tired of doing _nothing_. I don't do 'nothing'! I can't! I get bored and you know what happens when I get bored?"

"You pull stunts like these, I know," Amy mimicked Avalon's tone before chuckling. "I did grow up with you, remember?"

"So you know that I can't be locked in. I hate it."

"Just for a bit longer," Amy reminded. She left the dirty clothes on a nearby chair and reached for Avalon's hand. "In the meantime, maybe this is a good time to focus on your other hobbies. You haven't played piano in a while and I know for a _fact_ that the TARDIS made your piano room connect with your bedroom for now."

Avalon's eyes drifted to the closed door on their right side. The TARDIS had truly gone all out for her. "I know, I know..." She just needed to survive for a bit longer, just a bit more...

Amy pulled her towards the piano room in hopes that it would cheer Avalon enough. As she brought Avalon into the room, they heard Rory call out dinner.

"We're in here!"

"How long was I out?" Avalon muttered since the last time she heard, breakfast had passed.

"Plenty," Amy left it at that and sat her down in front of the piano.

"We're playing today?" Rory walked in with a new tray of food in hand. He was pleased to find Avalon was moving around, especially towards her piano. It was a good sign.

"Hopefully!" Amy put her hands together as she moved behind the piano. "I would love to hear a new tune."

"Is that a cupcake?" Avalon immediately saw the chocolate cupcake sitting on the corner of the meal tray. It had swirling white frosting on top.

"That's for dessert so don't even think about it!" Rory warned as he set the tray over the piano. "You eat dinner first."

"It's not salmon, is it? Because apparently I'm allergic to that now," Avalon said with s roll of her eyes.

"Nothing to take lightly," Rory, again, warned. Avalon would so be up to proving them wrong and taking a bite out of fish just to make her point. "I have your favorite: grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato basil soup."

"What?" Avalon leaned forwards just to make sure what he said was actually on the tray. It really was her favorite thing to eat. "What happened to the uber-healthy food you've been making for me?"

"Well I figured we've been overdoing it enough and one night won't harm anyone," Rory said, giving her a soft smile. He'd been really doing it with foods and she knew that despite some of his questionable meals, she still ate all of it because it meant a lot to him and Amy.

"Thank you. So, are you two going to yell at me for what I did?"

"How about you just play instead?" Amy suggested, glancing at Rory. "What do you think?"

"Hmm, I'm in the mood for...something upbeat maybe?"

"Sweet Caroline?" Amy laughed but Rory took her words with a snap of his fingers.

"Yes! Play that, Avalon!"

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Avalon shook her head but her shoulders were shaking as she tried hiding her laugh.

"I am not, play it!"

Avalon sighed but she wiggled her fingers and began playing the tune of the requested song. Rory bobbed his head and pretended to be leading the imaginary chorus behind Avalon. Amy had to laugh and because she did, Avalon did too.

It was this way that the Doctor had found them some time later. The only difference was that Avalon had switched to another song. He leaned against the door-frame to watch the Ponds - the entire Ponds - in their lovely moment. That's what they deserved: to be happy. They deserved to have silly, carefree moments with their daughter and granddaughter.

"Oh Raggedy Man!" Amy startled him out of his thoughts. "Come to join the party?"

The Doctor was not intending on being put in the spotlight like that. _Thank you, Amy_. He gave a shake of his head, unsure why he was choosing to do that. He thought of coming in with a plan but...there was nothing. He didn't really know how to talk to Avalon, much less what to say. Nine hundred years of experience and he had _nothing_.

"He's come to scold me," Avalon said suddenly, her tone that of resignation. She knew what she did and she wasn't going to get upset about it, especially with him considering what she did.

"No, I did not," the Doctor told her as he walked into the room.

"...vaccination time?" she tilted her head, letting her curls fall to one side.

"No."

"...I'm confused."

"Uuh, Rory, did you make more sandwiches?" Amy suddenly questioned her husband, confusing the hell out of him. "Because I would really like to eat some right now. Let's go!"

"But I-" Rory barely got to say when he had his arm yanked forwards. "Hey! A-Avalon you better eat!"

"C'mon!" Amy hissed and pulled him out of the room.

"They are so weird," Avalon shook her head when the two were gone.

"How are you feeling?" the Doctor asked, only taking a few steps towards her just in case she was still upset with him.

"As I told Amy, and then Rory, I am _fine_ ," sighed Avalon.

"You passed out for a couple hours..."

"Because I ran more than I should've, that's the _only_ point you're getting so don't even continue."

"Okay," the Doctor said before things got truly heated. That's not what he came in for. He had no plan but he knew for a fact that he hadn't come in with the intention of arguing. "I'm glad you're feeling good."

"So am I under lock again?"

"Avalon, I know that it's frustrating but you also have to understand that things can't go back to normal."

"I know," Avalon's gaze slowly lowered until she was staring at the piano's keyboard. "Things can't _ever_ go back to normal."

The Doctor came up to the piano, knowing she wasn't talking about her health anymore. ' _Avalon is terrified that you're actually angry with her over what happened in Berlin._ ' He took a seat next to her in front of the piano and caught Avalon's light flinch as if he was about to do something else. "I know these past few weeks have been very difficult for you and I've tried to make it less painful by doing what _I_ thought would be most beneficial to you. I did all the work to boost your immunity system, to give you the best vaccinations and the right time with the correct amount...but I heard that you felt like I was ignoring you, that...perhaps I was angry with you?" he watched her carefully for her reaction and inwardly sighed when she sniffled.

"You _are_ , aren't you?" she whispered, raising her gaze to show her teary eyes. "You're angry with me. You realized that I tried to murder you. I nearly _killed_ you! And you're just being merciful-"

" _No_ -"

"Yes!" she exclaimed, shifting on the seat to face him. "Just say it! I'm going crazy waiting for the moment where you'll just scream at me! And you'll give me that _dark_ look that I've seen you give your enemies. Or the-the look of hatred I get from half the people I know. I'm _really_ sorry. I-I know I always say that I'm going to kill you but that's just what I say to all my friends. I would _never_ truly hurt you."

"Avalon!" the Doctor put his hands over her shoulders. "I _know_! Of course I know you wouldn't hurt me! And yes, I _am_ aware you make death threats to your friends. I find it endearing, actually. And now I need you to understand me when _I_ say that I am _not_ angry with you and that I will _never_ be angry with you over this situation. It is _not_ your fault and the next time I see a Silent, I'll kill _them_ for what they did to you." There was the dark look Avalon had feared of, but it wasn't directed _at_ her. He was thinking about Kovarian and all her Silence, how he would love to make them pay for everything they'd done. It's not like he didn't have ways. Nine hundred years gave him a _lot_ of ways.

Avalon swallowed hard. It was hard to truly accept that he didn't harbor any anger towards her, but this was definitely a start. "So...you're not upset?"

"No, never," the Doctor's expression rid itself of the darkness to be replaced by his usual grin. "You're my Ava! How could I ever be mad with you?"

Avalon seemed to blink for some reason and the smile that came afterwards indicated it was a happy reason. "You called me 'Ava'...you haven't called me that since Berlin. That's also why I thought maybe you _were_ mad. You barely talk to me now, barely look at me..."

"Yeah, that's my fault," the Doctor sighed. Well, now was as good a time as ever. "All this happened because of me, I may not be at fault but it happened because somebody out there hates me so much that they got to you, Amy and River to get to _me_. I'm guilty, Ava. I'm so guilty and I have no idea how to face you."

"But you're just fine with Amy," Avalon said in a whisper, and a sad one too. They all thought she wasn't aware of what was going on because of her chronic fatigues, but she was. She saw their interactions and if anything, the Doctor seemed a bit closer to Amy and Rory. "Why isn't it the same with me?"

The Doctor was too tired to keep coming up with excuses at this point. He gave her a crooked smile, almost chuckling too. "Do you really have to ask?" his fond stare brought a blush to her face.

"You've never said it..." she said quietly, her eyes drifting to the side for a moment. " _He_ said it, your ganger. I believed him."

"Yeah, well, he was braver than I was," the Doctor resolved that his ganger had to have gotten an enhanced courage gene because he quaked at the image of him actually confessing his feelings. And yet here he was. "I've kept it bottled in because if I didn't say it, it wouldn't be real and I would keep you out of harm's way. I failed miserably, clearly. But yes, I _do_ care for you and it's not the care that I have for Amy and Rory, nor Lena. _My Ava,_ _you are everything to me. Y_ _ou've owned these hearts for a long while now."_

Avalon blinked at the same exact words his ganger spoke long ago, the same words she said to him in Berlin...and yet it didn't sound like he was copying them. It sounded like they came directly from him, from his _hearts_. Butterflies fluttered inside her but before she could get carried away, she had to know where it was going. "Why'd it take you so long?"

"Because I kept thinking...a lot. Still am, but you deserve to know the truth. After everything, it's the least you deserve."

"Well, I think we can skip the part where I confess," Avalon scooted closer to him. Her hands soon found his arms and as she spoke, they kept crawling up until they would finally rest over his shoulders. "I've made my feelings very clear. The only thing I want to clarify is that this is not an extension of my childhood admiration for you. You will always be my Fairy Tale Man, but _you_ as a _person_ made me fall for you. It's not the stories that I read, it was you. All you."

The Doctor couldn't find the right words in the beginning, most of his air was gone too and that was saying something considering he had a bypass system. He looked down at the beautiful woman in front of him. She was leaning on him, knowing perfectly well what she was doing. Her silk sleeping robe was not as thick as one would think. He swallowed hard and struggled to keep his hands _off_ her even when hers were touching the back of his neck. She was a sneaky one...and that could be _fun_.

Oh, he was hopeless.

"Ava, I love hearing that, I do but...I don't want to put you in more danger." Those words magically worked to get her retreating from him.

"Oh, so you're still on that plan then?" she crossed her arms.

"It's not a plan, it's more of another guilt I have. If I fall into temptation...who knows what could happen."

"That's the best part, you idiot! It's not planned - it's all up in the air for us to decide!" Avalon rolled her eyes. She couldn't be angry with his logical way of thinking, especially now that she knew more of what he thought. It just didn't mean she was okay with it. "I once had a boyfriend who literally planned every minute of our relationship. It was so unbearable. I like to write and even _I_ know that planning every part of your life isn't the way to do it. It doesn't bring you happiness. This is the first time where I'm okay with not knowing. All I need to know is that you want to be with me as much as I want to be with you." She slid out of the piano bench with a sigh.

"Ava, don't be mad with me..." the Doctor pleaded with her. He couldn't take another argument with her.

"I'm not mad. I'm disappointed. I don't know which is worse," Avalon shrugged and started heading out when she suddenly remembered something important. She turned right around and returned to the piano...to pick up her cupcake off her meal tray. "And let's be clear, I only came back for the cupcake!" She took a bite out of it to show she meant business and walked away. It was the first time she was allowed sweet sugar and not even the Doctor would ruin that.

The Doctor scrunched his face and slid out of the bench as well. He couldn't let her walk away from him, not again, not when he'd had her so close to him just seconds ago. "Avalon!"

Avalon turned around to see him striding towards her. Boredly, she bit into her cupcake again. The frosting was really good. "I've said what I needed to," she told him.

"Yeah, well, I've got one more thing to say," he informed her just before coming up to her. His arm reached her waist and yanked her forwards, right into a kiss. It was a pleasant surprise but a surprise nonetheless which made her drop her cupcake. Her hands hovered over his arms since her brain wasn't quite working with commands right now because of the _really_ good kiss she was getting. She kissed back within seconds but let the Doctor lead because it was just too good. He lips pressed hard against hers, moving them in a way that left her legs wobbly.

When the Doctor pulled away he took in her dazed expression with a degree of smugness that gave him his own rush. Nobody could make her do that face but him, and he couldn't give that up...he couldn't give _her_ up. "Ava...?" Now he just needed to see if she would either slap him or yell or, if he was really lucky, be happy with him?

Avalon blinked fast in hopes of getting her brain to work again. She opened her mouth slightly to say something, but she couldn't think of anything. Her eyes flickered to the ground where her cupcake had splattered.

"Ava?" the Doctor cautiously tried again. Had he finally screwed up beyond repair!? He was about to panic!

"...I dropped my cupcake," Avalon said, eyes glued to his.

The Doctor stopped for a second to evaluate that sentence. "That...that's an interesting response. Never had that one before," he admitted, though it did leave a few questions for him. "So-so would that...would that fall in the, uh, 'we're good' side or the-the 'I hate you forever' side because...because I could make a better argument."

Avalon stared at him for a few seconds, saying nothing which made the Doctor further panic. Her hand reached to touch his shoulder and after a few seconds she hurriedly dove for another kiss. She let herself finally take what she wanted for such a long time now. The Doctor had caught her perfectly, as if he'd known - which he didn't - she would do something like that. Once again she was between his arms but this time they were both fervently kissing. There was no brainwashing behind it, they were genuinely _kissing_. For the first time! If the Doctor wasn't too busy, he would've exclaimed a very triumphant ' _Ha_!'.

There was too much lost time to put into one single kiss, but they would definitely try. It brought them against the wall, hands everywhere while their tongues tried to explore each other's mouths. And after a few minutes, maybe more, the Doctor did Avalon the favor of pulling away so she could breathe again, but he'd be a bit selfish and keep things from ending there. He moved his lips down to her neck until he found the _right_ spot to...

Avalon let out a sharp gasp when his teeth bit into her skin. Her hands tightened around his neck, her eyes falling shut as she let him show off this talent she didn't think him capable of. She didn't know if it meant anything that he basically had _alien_ teeth or if he was just... _really_ experienced? Which ever one it was, she was grateful for it because she might fall right now. She didn't realize at what point her hums turn into moans, but the Doctor did. He had heard the exact moment she had moaned for him and if that's what she did just with a bite on the neck, he was eager to find out what other noises she would make later on with other spots.

 _Hold yourself_ , he suddenly heard. He couldn't think _that_ far, not now. He pressed one last kiss over Avalon's neck, making it a soft one over her sure-to-be red skin. Avalon had just opened her eyes when he looked at her.

"...now _that_ was a kiss," she brought her hands up to his face, still panting. "And I didn't take you for a biter."

"I'm full of surprises," he smirked.

"Yeah, you are," she concluded, her smile growing as she pulled him closer again. "Where does this leave us, then?"

"I thought it would be clear enough with that," he nuzzled his nose next to hers. She tilted her head as he further nuzzled down her neck. "Or do I have to go for the other side?"

"You'd like that," she smirked. "But to be honest, one good snog doesn't answer everything. I've had plenty of one-off snogs and I'd really like for this one to be different."

The Doctor pulled back to give her a frown. "Who have you been kissing before me?"

"You really want to go there Mr. 909?"

"Fair point," the Doctor was quick to move on. "I don't know," he answered honestly. "I had a plan...to stay away but I can't do it. I fell. I fell into temptation and I can't get out now."

Avalon was quite satisfied with what she was hearing. "Then don't get out. Stay here with me," she leaned on her toes to kiss his neck. "I'm a biter too, among other things."

Yup, that promised rushes the Doctor wouldn't give up. He squeezed her hips and concluded that this pajama set of hers was very thin. "Let me fall, then."

"With pleasure," Avalon smiled cheekily. "Or yours, depending how generous I'm feeling."

The Doctor playfully rolled his eyes. He further wrapped his arms around her for a hug, a tight hug that - despite his efforts - did express some concern over this decision. His decision might not have been the most practical one but he couldn't help it; the feisty ginger had conquered both of his hearts and now he wanted her. He couldn't let her go. So, instead, he silently vowed to protect Avalon at all costs, putting her first above anything. Should any danger come by, he'd be ready and if he had to, he would sacrifice anything and everything for her.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Ok ok ok ok buT it finally happened. It's what they DESERVE. I'm just so sorry that angst isn't over...

And I really loved writing more about River's feelings towards Avalon now that we know who she is. I tried to limit it though so that when THE moment comes, I haven't already given everything up. This is more of her perspective from when everything has already been said and _done_. It's already happened. But the moment (ha, no pun intended here) _is_ coming. And I'm so sorry :)). But before any of that comes, we'll be having a few fluffy originally chapters first! And more DW comic arcs!

 **P. S:** As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is " **noble-crescent** " and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	17. Home in Leadworth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor thinks it's time for Avalon to go back to Leadworth and visit her family. Along the way he begins to learn more about her past - both sweet and sour moments.

A soft melody drifted out from Avalon's piano room. As of late, the TARDIS often had tunes being played. Avalon had found new inspiration (as well as strength) to play the piano again. Some of her melodies did, once in a while, portray the deep sorrow she felt but couldn't remember about. Her subconscious was once again trying to warn her that she had forgotten something, but this time Avalon wasn't interested in remembering. She knew it had to do with her mother and she couldn't care less about that woman. She had better things to think about, happier things to think about.

" _Cause they say home is where your heart is set in stone, it's where you go when you're alone_ ," she sang along to the song her fingers played to, " _Is where you go to rest your bones. It's not just where you lay your head, it's not just where you make your bed. As long as we're together, does it matter where we go? Hoooome..._ "

"Lovely song," the Doctor surprised her just as she'd stopped singing. He slipped onto the piano bench next to her and Avalon couldn't help chuckle at his smugness. "Inspired recently?"

"No, actually, not this song," Avalon took pleasure seeing his face falter from surprise. He'd been so sure that she was playing the song because of their recent decision about each other. She laughed and patted his cheek. "Sorry Fairy Tale Man, but I've just had this song stuck in my head for some reason." She faced the piano with the same confusion she had before deciding to play the song. "Not that I'm complaining. It's a beautiful song."

"My feelings would be incredibly hurt right now if you weren't such a talented pianist," the Doctor smiled at her, widening when she blushed.

"Giving me nonstop compliments won't get you a snog," she warned him but it just made him go into a full smirk. " _Anymore_ ," she added with a huff.

Who could blame her, really? It'd been about two weeks since they started a relationship - and the term was still up in the air considering they hadn't even had a proper first date yet - and all they'd done so far was snog. A lot. But, they also knew that given Avalon's quarantine in the TARDIS didn't exactly give them an opportunity to take it outside where they could have dates somewhere exciting. They still needed to be very careful with Avalon's health even if she was a lot better than she was two months ago.

Neither complained about the ample opportunities they had to kiss each other, though. The only thing they had to be really careful about in those situations was not to be caught by Amy or Rory. The decision to keep it away from them was made by both Avalon and the Doctor. It was simply too early, too rocky, to really put a name on whatever it was they had. Plus, secretly, Avalon was afraid that Rory would go ballistic with the news. He had once told her what he thought about such a thing and given what happened recently, Rory had plenty ammunition to bring them down.

That's where the Doctor pointed out, each time without fail, that Rory meant well and that he was completely right. Avalon had already been targeted, Rory was perfectly in the right to be against this. Of course from his part, the Doctor worried that now Amy and Rory would be against it given who Avalon was. Yes, they had both already expressed their thoughts about this relationship but that was a long time ago. They could have changed their minds and the Doctor was a bit scared to tell them. Avalon was their granddaughter, a piece of their daughter they couldn't see all the time. They already expressed a deep desire to protect Avalon from anything bad. What would they do when they learned their only granddaughter had chosen him?

The same idea extended to Lena and Ryland Reynolds. Now the Doctor thought that he would have Lena at his side, but it wouldn't completely erase the natural fears Lena would have concerning her sister/cousin. And Ryland? The Doctor wasn't sure at all how the man would react. To Ryland, Avalon was yet another piece of his late brother. He of course wanted her to be safe.

When it came to Lena and Ryland for Avalon, she didn't want them to know yet. She wanted to keep it all a secret, like it was just theirs for now. She didn't want the questions, she didn't want the opinions, nothing. She just wanted to be with the Doctor right now, all by them selves.

"I'll always give you compliments even if it won't get me a snog," the Doctor said to leave clear.

"Even when I'm arguing with you?" she challenged him. "Because please know that those moments _will_ happen. You will inevitably piss me off."

"Oh, how do you know it's going to be _my_ fault and not yours? You do, after all, have a really bad..." the Doctor trailed off when she arched an eyebrow at him, her face falling flat. _Red alert! Red alert!_ The Doctor quickly shook his head. "You have a _lovely_ temper!"

"That's a good liar," Avalon patted his cheek and kissed his lips. "I _do_ have a lovely temper, don't I?"

The Doctor would not comment on that aspect of her personality, but she saw it all in his widened eyes. Instead, he focused on the present. "How are you feeling today?"

At first glance, she had a better color in her skin. She was smiling more and holding conversations like she used to. There were only a couple bruises left on her body and no more stitches.

"I do feel better," Avalon admitted. "Though I wish the nightmares would stop." She'd been having less nightmares too but there were some that wouldn't leave her alone. They were relentless in making her wake up screaming in the middle of her sleep. What angered her the most was that she couldn't remember them completely. They'd fade just seconds after waking up.

"They will go away with time," the Doctor promised her. He scooted her closer to his body and pressed a kiss to her temple. He'd been there for most of her nightmare episodes. He wished the first time they laid together wasn't because she was terrified out of her mind. Still, he would do his best each time to soothe her and get her to go back to sleep. "And I swear to you that those things will never happen to you again."

Avalon nodded and let her head rest on his arm. She swallowed hard as one specific moment fought to put itself in front of her. It was a bunch of pictures, a...slide show? There were so many cars overturned, metal men - Cybermen? - and then Daleks. Those she could remember. Planets. Plus, there was just something inside her telling her that...that she was _so_ sad. Apart from all the anger and fear that she already felt and had felt in their possession...she was _sad_. But she couldn't remember why. She thought back to when she had forgotten Lena and Rory and found herself in tears at random times.

"I was thinking..." the Doctor said after a few minutes of watching Avalon. She getting lost in her thoughts and most of her thoughts right now were filled with terror. He didn't want that for her. "Maybe today we can visit your family."

That got Avalon to sit right up. Her big, blue eyes had widened and the excitement soon filled them. "Really!? I can go back to Earth!?"

"Just for a day," he clarified. "And we have to be very careful where you go, what you touch. I've already phoned Lena a while back so they could sterilize your home. She just called back to tell me it's ready. Would you-"

"YES! Absolutely yes!" Avalon threw her arms around his neck and gave him a big kiss on the lips. "I'd love to!"

The Doctor thought he would never see Avalon _that_ excited to go back to _Leadworth_ , but right now she would be excited for anything that involved leaving the TARDIS. "I'm glad. I know you've been going crazy being stuck inside. I really appreciate your patience, albeit you might have yelled at us a few times..."

Avalon smirked. "You deserved it. You're annoying sometimes But I _really_ appreciate you taking me to Leadworth, even if it's just for a day." She slid her arms around his neck and leaned against him. "Are you going to stay around? Or are you just dropping me off?"

"I think you'd like some quality time with your family but I'll be close by in case you need anything." The Doctor wouldn't say that he was anxious to see if Avalon's body would react negatively to the environment, even If it was sterilized. He would give her time with her family but he would be close by in case he got the call that Avalon needed him.

"Oh, how about we go out for a bit though? Just the two of us around Leadworth?" Avalon asked. "I know Leadworth isn't exactly glamorous but...a small outing between us could be fun."

The Doctor bobbed his head at the idea. He admitted that Leadworth wasn't the most exciting of places - if he lived there he might have died in a few days - but he could imagine a brief outing with Avalon. Although it did worry him that Avalon's body could react badly to the environment, but he would be right beside her ready to take care of her if she needed him.

"How do we get Amy and Rory out of our hair?" he asked her for some ideas.

"Easy, we let them think we're going to my place and drop them off at Amy's home first. They can visit the in-laws."

"You are a sneaky one," the Doctor bopped her nose, not looking that upset about it. "I'll go let Amy and Rory know about the plans."

"What are we going to do about the Sapling?" Avalon asked when she remembered that their tree child wasn't exactly welcomed on present-day Earth and much less the likes of Leadworth.

"Maybe we let him stay with Lena at your place. You know he loved your bookshelves in your room? He might spend the whole day there."

Avalon laughed. "He has amazing taste then."

When the two ready to go forwards with their plans, they separated to get ready. The Doctor would inform the Ponds and Lena while Avalon got herself and the Sapling ready. She would have to explain why he had to stay at home with Lena, but she and the Doctor knew it wouldn't be a problem. The Sapling was a highly intelligent child. Plus, he loved his aunt Lena. And once the Sapling heard about the plans, he was excited that maybe this time his uncle Gavin might teach him how to use a skateboard. When the Doctor came around for them both, he began to hear the Sapling's excited babbles about all the videos he'd seen of kids using skateboards.

"Who gave you the WiFi password?" Avalon laughed after listening to one particular skateboard trick the Sapling was hoping to try out.

"The TARDIS showed me all the videos I wanted!" the Sapling raised his arms over his head, gesturing towards the ceiling. The TARDIS hummed a confirming hum.

"Oh, of course." Avalon rolled her eyes. "Spoil him, why don't you?"

"I seem to remember you doing the same," the Doctor walked into the Sapling's bedroom. "Wasn't it you who allowed him to have chocolate for dinner yesterday?"

"What?" she turned around and let all of her curls bounce to one side of her shoulder. "That was _you_!"

The Doctor blinked, turning his head to the side to remember that moment. "Oh. Right." He hadn't quite cared for what Rory made for dinner and he did find a secret stash of chocolate he still didn't know who it belonged to. Amy wouldn't fess up but the Doctor suspected it was hers.

"I'm ready to go!" the Sapling announced, gesturing to his brilliant red tie.

"Where'd that come from?" the Doctor asked, chuckling while the Sapling spun around to see how fast the tie spun with him.

"We found it in the wardrobe! Mother said I could wear it!"

"He doesn't _have_ to wear clothes since he's wood and all but it _is_ nice to have him dress up a bit," Avalon folded her arms over her chest. "I won't have my family thinking I don't look after my tree child."

The Doctor smiled fondly at her. She was acting more like a mother to the Sapling each day. After thinking about her mother, Avalon realized that she never wanted to be like that towards her own children. Granted she never thought her first child would be a _t_ _ree_ but the idea still stood. She wanted to be the best Mother for the Sapling and she would strive to get it right each day. She would just have to learn the details of it because she honestly had no idea how to _be_ a mother.

"Plus, the TARDIS seemed to really want him to wear the tie too," Avalon reached out to stop the Sapling from spinning so much.

The Doctor recognized the tie after another look. "That's because it's mine." Avalon raised an eyebrow at him, clearly not buying it. "Not _me_ as in _this_ me-" he gestured to himself, "-but as in the last me. The me that came before."

"Aha!" the Sapling nodded as if he already knew the story and because he had some of the Doctor's memories, he did! He turned to his Mother excitedly. "Father used to wear ties all the time before he regenerated. And suits. He really liked suits."

Avalon's eyes widened when she realized they were talking about the Doctor's previous incarnation, the one who saved New Earth. She was dazzled. "Oh! _My_ Doctor!"

And with that, the current Doctor frowned. "What? What do you mean _he's_ your Doctor!? _I'm-"_ he not so gently hit his chest, "-your Doctor! Not him! He's..."

" _You_?" Avalon was at a loss between laughing at him or being plain confused. She really didn't know which one was the correct reaction here. "I was under the impression that each of your incarnations is _you_."

"Correct!" the Sapling nodded his head. Avalon gestured at the child to prove her point.

This still didn't calm the Doctor's obvious jealousy, not that Avalon would realize it there. He knew what his last incarnation meant to her. If this was how she viewed the last Doctor _without_ meeting him, she would lose it if she was face to face with him. The current Doctor wasn't interested in seeing that.

"Still," he muttered, making himself sound like a child.

"Don't be like that," Avalon warned him as she walked up to him. She pressed her hands to his shoulders, leaning a bit closer on him. "He just has a special place in my heart. He helped pave the way for my existence. How could I _not_ like him?"

"Oh I _know_ you like him. Your eyes are doing the sparkly thing." He waved his finger in front of her eyes. "I don't like it."

" _Ooh_ , you're jealous," Avalon finally made the realization and immediately loved it. It promised some really fun times. "I _like_ that." The Doctor briefly glared at her before changing views.

The Sapling giggled behind them. "I've seen that. Father doesn't really interact well with his other incarnations."

Avalon only let go of the Doctor because she remembered the Sapling was there. They hadn't explained their new relationship to him - they hadn't even mentioned that they _started_ a new relationship. But, the Sapling wasn't just any ordinary child. He knew that there was something that changed between his parents, something that brought them closer. They talked to each other, they touched each other more, they laughed and bantered more.

"But I think every incarnation of Father would like you, Mother," the Sapling neared his parents, wooden fingers tapping against his tie.

Avalon smiled softly at him, as did the Doctor behind her. "I hope he does."

"Oh, he does," the Doctor reached for her hand on her side, using it to turn her back enough to see him. "Which is why I'm not so keen on your infatuation with my previous incarnation. He was a flirt."

"No more than you have been, I imagine," Avalon countered with a smirk. "I would one day like to bump into him." Before he could protest or misinterpret her, she added, "And say thank you. I would love to thank him for what he did for my people and planet." Her eyes darted to the side when she added in a quieter voice, "And maybe give him a hug..."

"Oh, alright." The Doctor rolled his eyes at her. She just couldn't help it, could she?

"...and maybe a kiss..."

"Hey!" the Doctor was quick to scowl. His last incarnation _would_ like that, but there was no way in hell _he_ was letting that guy kiss _his_ Ava! No way in hell!

The Sapling gasped. "Mother is talking about kissing my Father? Does that mean you're together like aunt Amy and Uncle Rory?"

"See what you did?" the Doctor turned to Avalon suddenly, gesturing her as the blame. "That's what happens when you think about the wrong Doctor!"

Avalon gawked at his stupidity. "Wrong Doc - he's _you_! He's you, moron!"

The Sapling's head turned from his mother to his father each time they said something. He couldn't help giggle again. They always did this, the arguing that wasn't really the arguing. Aunt Amy had told him that this was the best way they communicated. (Amy had silently thought this was also what they did because they were evenly matched when it came to being know-it-alls.) Still, when the 'parents' finally caught up with the fact they were being bad examples for their tree child, they ceased and decided to work together to explain to the Sapling the nature of their relationship. Most importantly, they worked to make sure that the Sapling understood that they didn't want anyone else to know about it yet. The Sapling happily agreed, feeling special that his parents trusted him enough to share their secret with him. He wouldn't let them down!

~0~

Avalon poked her head from the TARDIS and grinned at the sight of the park. She completely opened the doors and stepped out to feel the mushy green grass through her open-toed sandals. Leadworth looked as normal as ever! The park was still the same as when she left it.

There were benches around each pathway corner with ample space to feed the birds. There was a small fountain in the middle of the paths, spewing water - although Avalon caught that one cracked corner that hadn't been fixed - and there was the same, small swing set on the far right. The duck pond - which now _had_ ducks - was still on the left and had the attention of several children.

"I have never been so happy to see this stupid place!"

"And yet that's how you greet it," the Doctor came out behind her and gave her a strange look.

"I said I was happy to _see_ it, not that I'm happy _for_ it. I always did say Leadworth was too slow and small for me." Avalon missed the way the Doctor's face fell with guilt.

He shouldn't feel that way, he shouldn't, but he couldn't help it. She had always said it to his face, to everyone, that she felt out of place...

_But **she's** choosing not to know her past, _he reminded himself. Yes, he had made the mistake of not scanning Avalon before but now here he was offering the truth to her...but she just didn't want it. He couldn't be guilty over a choice she was making...if only it was that easy.

"It's kind of nice being back, though," Avalon turned sideways to meet his gaze. "After everything...it feels good." She had to look away as she swallowed hard. No matter how much she tried, there was always a part of it that got to her. She blinked hard to get those images of Kovarian out of her head. She crossed her arms and held them tightly to her chest, her fingers grazing over the spots where a few bruises were still healing. There weren't many left, and they hardly hurt, but it was the fact that they'd _been_ there...

"Ava?" the Doctor had moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You want to go back?"

Avalon shuddered a breath. "N-no. I'm fine. I'm..." she swallowed roughly but gained some composure, "I'm good."

"It's okay if you're not," the Doctor whispered to her, pressing a soft kiss to her temple. "The point here is to take things slow. If you need more time, we can go right back inside the TARDIS and go see your family."

"No!" Avalon quickly said. She may not be at her best but she knew that she was done being in quarantine. She needed to see places, even if it was Leadworth. "I want to stay. There's a place I want to see, somebody..."

Now that interested the Doctor. She hadn't mentioned wanting to see somebody besides her family. "Who?"

Avalon smiled warmly as a different memory came to mind. "You'll like him."

" _Him_!?"

Avalon rolled her eyes and took one of his hands off her wait to hold in her own. "C'mon! I actually want to see the duck pond _with_ ducks."

"But you've already seen it before - there were ducks in it the whole time now since I rebooted the universe," the Doctor reminded them on their way to the pond.

"Something you like reminding us about, huh?" Avalon side-glanced him in time to catch his smug face.

"I _did_ save it."

" _After_ you ruined it."

The Doctor pouted immediately. "Are you just going to be mean to me in this relationship?"

"Can't help it," Avalon admitted, though she did feel a bit guilty with him now. "Sometimes I say the words then realize what I said afterwards."

"That's my Ava," the Doctor shrugged, resigning himself to what would inevitably become part of their norm. It would certainly make things interesting.

"Sorry," Avalon said before kissing his cheek. It brought out a smile from him.

"It's fine, darling. I can't be mad at you. I literally can't!"

Avalon blushed and looked ahead. She remembered what River Song told her weeks ago. **_The Doctor could never be angry with you_**. That woman really _did_ know the future...

And it made Avalon wonder about the other things River told her about concerning the Doctor and their feelings.

Her blush strengthened.

"Here we are, then. The duck pond _with_ ducks," the Doctor made a grand gesture to the pond that honestly couldn't be _more_ boring to him. It was a small pond and he could see some moldy rocks lining the the borders. The ducks were about the only good things it had going.

Avalon smiled lightly at the pond. She remembered both versions of the pond - one time line where it _had_ ducks and the other time line that didn't. In the current time line, she remembered how much she loved feeding the ducks. She would pretend to be the Swan Princess and the ducks were her faithful friends. It was such a funny game to her, but her parents would always buy her appropriate duck food that they kept home for whenever they would come to the park.

"That's Witty," she pointed to the green and black duck swimming on their right side.

"Come again?" the Doctor blinked. He might have dazed off thinking where else he could bring Avalon that was a bit more...not here. He really wanted a proper date with her.

"I named him Witty," Avalon pointed at the duck again. "And that one-" she moved her finger to the white duck on their left, "-is named Lily. They were my companions when I would come and play Swan Princess." She blushed with the look the Doctor had on her. "I know, it's a stupid thing but...just a game I used to play..."

"I think it's adorable," the Doctor corrected her before she got any other ideas. He wound an arm around her waist to bring her closer to his side.

"You know what? I know I say that I didn't really like this town but the truth is this park holds a lot of memories for me." She looked behind them, eventually turning away from the pond. "I played so much here. Lena and I used to play fairies around those trees over there." She pointed to the few trees where people currently retreating to for shade. "I was Tinkerbell and Lena was Wendy, though we would take turns. And then Mum used to come by and pretend to be Wendy's Mum. Dad..." Avalon chuckled, "Dad would play Captain Hook and then when Gavin was older he was..."

"Let me guess, Peter Pan?" the Doctor took a guess but was surprised to find he was wrong.

"No, he was the twin boys. He used to do both boys - it was hilarious!" Avalon laughed as if she was seeing the whole thing in front of her. Her laugh slowly subsided but her eyes wouldn't leave the trees. "I never realized how many memories I had in this park. Sometimes I feel like there's so much going on in my brain that it can't compartmentalize and I end up forgetting things that I shouldn't."

The Doctor fell silent. That was definitely a possible side effect from Kovarian but at the same time it could also be the misuse of Avalon's mind. She didn't know what abilities she had and they were atrophying...or worse, they were _already_ gone.

Avalon looked over her shoulder to the pond. "...and sometimes I _know_ that I forgot...but I just can't remember _what_ I forgot..."

The other time line...

"Fairy Tale Man, I never asked..." She turned her body back to the pond, her eyes following the swimming ducks, "How come _I_ knew that we forgot things? Like this pond. In the other timeline, this was a duck pond without ducks and I kept asking how did we _know_ this was a duck pond if there were no ducks. Nobody asked that, nobody even noticed. Amy didn't, Lena didn't, Rory didn't...nobody did except for me." And that was just one of the things that made her feel like an out cast in the town. She kept seeing all these little things that no one else cared about and sometimes when she mentioned them she would get dirty looks or, worse, some bad snaps.

The Doctor swallowed hard as she watched her get lost in her thoughts. How was he meant to answer that if she didn't want to know her past? He couldn't possibly answer that question without giving her the entire truth. She was a brand new species with so many questions about herself that couldn't be answered at the moment. Just telling her that, though, would be telling her she was truly adopted and that her parents...were some pretty interesting people.

"Fairy Tale Man," Avalon called to him again. She'd noticed his pensive silence and wondered if it was because of her question. "Did you ever find out?"

The Doctor thought about it for another few seconds before deciding to leave it up to her. He _did_ have the answer she wanted at the moment but _she_ did not want to know the entire truth. _Tell her the truth_ , he told himself.

"It's complicated," he warned as he turned to face her. "And I do have the answer, but I'm not sure if you want to hear it."

"Why wouldn't I?" she asked, naturally confused why he would assume that.

"Because the answer is your mother, your biological mother." The Doctor inwardly sighed as he watched her face slowly go grim. It hurt him that Kovarian and the Silence had made her believe with all her heart that her mother abandoned her. Avalon shouldn't hate her mother.

"Oh...she's the reason I can remember things that others can't?" Avalon was very careful not to ask a question that would lead the Doctor to disclosing her background

"Sort of, it's...it's more like a whole combination of things. You're different Avalon, you've always known that. I can tell you everything you want to know if you decide that you _do_ want to know."

Avalon started shaking her head the moment the choice was offered to her. "No, no..." Absolutely not. A bile of anger was quick to rise. She hated that her mother, that her possible real parents, left the Doctor to tell her the truth. If that didn't spell 'cowardly', she didn't know what did. The Doctor shouldn't have to bear that burden and she certainly wouldn't put him under that stress. "It's fine, I don't need to know."

The Doctor knew that was a blatant lie but he wouldn't insist. He would just find a middle ground in the situation. "You're more _aware_ of what's going on. You're not crazy and you're not wrong about it." He took a few steps closer to her, getting rid of the gap between them as he once again put his arms around her. "The duck pond," he nodded to the famous pond beside them, "The _Daleks_ with Winston - you remembered a bit of them, the 27 planets stolen - and then you knew that you'd forgotten somebody when the cracks swallowed Rory and Lena up." Avalon's eyes started to tear up and when they rolled down her cheeks, the Doctor gently wiped them off her face. "Your brain, Avalon, you once said that things felt like they went too slow. You felt out of place because you wanted _more_. You _think_ differently. You're capable of doing it. It's all true."

"So I really _am_ a freak," Avalon whispered, eyes darting to the side in embarrassment. "I owe apologies to several people in this town."

"No, absolutely not," the Doctor stepped even closer to her so that their bodies pressed against one another. "You're _different_."

"When you live on Earth, being 'different' isn't exactly a good thing. Ask my high school years."

"Oh, I'm so sorry Ava," the Doctor wrapped his arms around her for a very tight hug. "You're not a 'freak', you're actually very special." He was sure that River Song would be the first person to agree with that statement.

Avalon made her doubt with a scoff. "Right."

"You _are_ and not just on biological terms. I've seen you do amazing things. Trust me when I say that there is no one else like you...Avalon Harmony Reynolds."

Avalon groaned and pulled away to glare at him. "I rue the day you learned my middle name."

"Why?" the Doctor laughed. "I love it. _Harmony_ -"

"Shut up!" Avalon clapped a hand over his mouth. "I hate that name! It's embarrassing!"

The Doctor pulled her hand off him to reveal a grin underneath. "It's unique!"

"No it's not! It's abnormal like the rest of me! Lena's middle name is 'Emilia'! That's normal! Not to mention vintage and cute!"

"As is your name!" the Doctor tried hugging her again but she swatted his hands away.

"No it's not! And stop trying to make it sound like it is! I know you're just-"

The Doctor cut her off with a kiss and when it came to choosing between arguing or kissing, Avalon had so far gone with the latter. There was something about kissing him that eased all her nerves. If she was angry, he could kiss her till she forgot _what_ she was angry about. If she was sad, he could kiss her until the smile would inevitably come out from her. There was no such thing as magic, but the Doctor had some type of power over her.

When he let her go, he was proud to see her dazed face. His hand moved around her neck till he was able to bunch up some of her hair on the back. He brought her close to where they could rest their foreheads together.

"Whenever you want to know the truth, I _will_ tell you everything," he promised her. She didn't like talking about it but he needed her to know that would always have the option with him.

"I know," Avalon said, but that was the only thing she would say on the matter. "Let's go. There's somebody I want you to meet."

The Doctor nodded and let her take one of his hands. She seemed more at peace but he wasn't sure how long that would last. It was a huge temptation to have the truth right beside her and not ask about it.

~0~

Avalon brought them directly to a small shop at the corner of a street. It turned out to be a _music_ store. It was warm inside and it smelled like fresh polish.

Avalon was grinning from the moment they stepped inside. She didn't even look like she remembered the grim conversation they had earlier. "Oh, it hasn't changed one bit!" she let go of the Doctor's hand to walk around.

Guitars hung on her far left with. She saw her favorite one, a bright red one that she always promised to steal but never actually did. Guitar wasn't her thing, but she liked pretty things. She moved along the glass displays boasting clarinets and flutes. There was only one piano set at the corner, near the display window. It was a tactic because whoever passed by would sometimes get a sight of someone playing the piano and could hear whatever they were playing. It would attract a lot of customers sometimes, especially tourists when they had some.

"How can I help you?" an elderly man walked out from the storage room near the counter. When Avalon turned around, the man laughed with delight. "Avalon! My star! You've come back!"

Avalon giggled childishly as she hurried to hug the man. "Mr. Lafley!"

The Doctor watched the two greet each other with a fondness. Up until now, Avalon had never told him of any place that she was so fond of in this town. This store had to be something else because she was ecstatic to be there. Plus, she looked like she really liked this man. Now he felt silly for being jealous. He would have to work on that.

"How are you? Last time I heard, Lena told me you were off traveling," Mr. Lafley rubbed Avalon's arms with another chuckle. "I thought you finally got yourself a singing job in the city. Broadway!"

Avalon laughed with embarrassment. "Oh no! I'm not that cut out for that. I'm visiting home, though, and I brought somebody I really want you to meet." She hurried back for the Doctor, taking his hand and excitedly returning to Mr. Lafley. "He's my, uh, friend..." She wished she could say more but she didn't need Mr. Lafley commenting this to her family.

The Doctor understood her reluctance. He would've done the same. "Nice to meet you. I'm the Doctor."

Mr. Lafley was an olive-skinned, short man with gray hair. His blue eyes shined less from old age but they were still like the sea. "Oh, are you new in the hospital?" he squinted his eyes to study the Doctor better. "My wife's been in there so many times I know everyone there."

"He's from out of town," Avalon quickly supplied. "A friend I made on my travels."

"Nice to meet you, young man," Mr. Lafley shook hands with the Doctor, the Time Lord found it almost impossible not to laugh at the ' _young man'_. Humans could be so oblivious. "Cole Lafley."

"Mr. Lafley was my music teacher when I was younger," Avalon began to explain. "It's because of him that I learned how to play the piano."

"Oh no, you were a natural already!" Mr. Lafley put a hand on Avalon's arm then looked at the Doctor. "Her fingers moved so gracefully across the piano. Never seen anything like that."

"Avalon _is_ something special, alright," the Doctor said with his eyes locked on Avalon's. With his soft smile, Avalon couldn't help but blush. "I've heard her play dozens of times, but I could always use more."

"Avalon came to me when she was 8 years old. Her parents thought it would be a good use of her time to learn an instrument," Mr. Lafley explained as he turned away. He was heading to the counter.

"More like I had just cut a big chunk of Julie McKinnon's hair the day before," Avalon whispered to the Doctor who responded with alarmed widened eyes. Avalon didn't look the least big phased. She seemed more proud than anything as if she was reliving the moment. "Mum and Dad thought maybe I could use my little fingers on an instrument instead of scissors."

"You cut a little girl's hair!?" the Doctor whisper-hissed, eyes darting to the side to make sure Mr. Lafley didn't hear. He was rummaging through some drawers under the cash register.

"What!? I was a little girl too!" Avalon used the same whisper-hiss tone. "And she had it coming anyways. She kept making fun of my hair when hers was just as bad as mine. She was just lucky I got caught or I would've cut those bangs off her too!" She made a gesture of a snip-snap with her fingers then walked off for the counter.

The Doctor had a comical stare on his face as he watched Avalon leave. He had never been more attracted to her than right now. He practically scurried after her.

Mr. Lafley had found what he was looking for: a picture frame. Avalon laughed at the sight of her ten year old self with a younger Mr. Lafley in a piano recital. She wore a puffy pink dress and her curls had been tamed into a half up, half down style. She remembered she'd even managed to convince Emmalina to let her wear lip gloss.

"I remember this! It was my first recital," she looked up from the frame and held it for the Doctor to see.

"You were adorable," the Doctor smiled at the frame. Avalon was grinning from ear to ear as she hugged Mr. Lafley.

"After that recital, I had too many people trying to take away my star. But I told them all 'no way'," Mr. Lafley wagged a finger, very serious as if he was hearing the same requests now. "Avalon was _my_ star."

Avalon smiled softly at the old man. "Mr. Lafley's music store was like a refuge to me. I would come in here whenever I found Leadworth too...Leadworth-y." Mr. Lafley laughed. "Plus, this is where I found my love for piano."

The bell from the entrance rang when a young blonde girl walked in. "Hey Grandpa," she let one of her backpack's straps fall off her shoulder.

Avalon's eyes widened when she saw the girl. "Holly?"

The blonde girl beamed and let her backpack completely fall off her shoulders. "Avalon! You're back!" she sprinted up to hug Avalon.

"Just visiting," Avalon patted the girl's back. "And of course I couldn't come back without visiting your grandfather's store."

Holly pulled away and glanced at the Doctor. "This your boyfriend?" The question was innocent enough but she made the pair stutter and stammer that they were friends only. Holly felt the need to point out that she was fourteen, not stupid, but she figured Avalon must have a reason to not want to say the truth. "Holly Lafley," she extended a hand to the Doctor.

"Lovely name," the Doctor smiled at the young girl. "I'm the Doctor."

"You work at the hospital with Rory, huh?" Holly playfully rolled her eyes. "Of course Avalon would find you there."

"Holly, quiet time," Avalon said softly but firmly so the girl would get a hint. "I've known Holly since she was in diapers," she started explaining to the Doctor while Holly moved around them to her see her grandfather. "Like me, she plays the piano wonderfully. Maybe even better."

"So how long are you staying in town?" Holly asked her.

"Just for today," Avalon turned with them, prompting the Doctor to do the same.

"Aw, you're going to miss my birthday," Holly pouted for a moment. "You could've done Beauty and the Beast again with me!"

"What? What's that mean?" the Doctor curiously asked and he became even more intrigued when Avalon shied away from the matter by looking to the side. "Ava?"

Holly would _love_ explaining that bit to him. "My favorite princess is Belle from Beauty and the Beast and when I turned 7, Avalon came to my birthday party to sing me the song from the movie! Beauty and the Beast?"

"You _did_?" the Doctor's eyes widened at Avalon who still wouldn't look at him. Oh he would love to see that!

"She did!" Holly was quick to insist. "I was dressed as Belle and I got to dance with my own Beast - he was my crush back then."

"You were seven Holly," his grandfather reminded her to leave clear that she couldn't have had a 'crush'.

Holly waved him off and continued the story. "She came and sang the song on piano for us. She was so good! She has a really pretty voice!"

"Yeah, she does," the Doctor agreed and reached for Avalon's closest hand. He couldn't see her face but he could see a pink tint on her cheek. She was flatout embarrassed and he couldn't understand why. She was never embarrassed by her deep interest in fairy tales.

"My birthday's tomorrow, in case you decide to stick around," Holly said, offering Avalon a smile. "Come around if you can."

Avalon gave the girl a nod and motioned for Holly to come for another hug. "You sweet Holly, happy birthday." Holly grinned and hugged Avalon back.

Later on, when Avalon and the Doctor left the music store with the promise that Avalon would come back again in the future, the two headed back for the TARDIS. It was a pretty silent walk but Avalon could see the Doctor staring at her from the corner of her eye. He was curious about something but he hadn't worked up the courage to straight up ask.

It was kind of cute.

"What do you want to know, Fairy Tale Man?" she asked once they were back in the TARDIS. Now she watched him while he went around the console, preparing to take them to the Reynolds residence.

The Doctor wouldn't waste time pretending he had no idea what she was talking about. "Honestly, I'm a little confused why you were so embarrassed with Holly's story about her birthday." Avalon pursed her lips together, once again confirming that there was a stark difference between that moment and the rest of her fairy tale moments. "She said you sang beautifully at her party. What's so wrong about that?"

"Nothing, absolutely nothing," she said quietly and slowly brought her arms over her chest. "It's what happened a few days later that I'm not happy about."

"What happened?"

Avalon moved her head slightly to get some curls out of her face. "Look, I actually like Holly. Mr. Lafley and his family are one of the few families in Leadworth that actually liked me. I got to see Holly grow up and I even got to teach her what Mr. Lafley taught me. She was sort of like another little sister, so when she asked me if I could come sing at her party of course I said yes. I took it very seriously. And you know me..." she smiled slightly, "An opportunity to sing? I couldn't pass that up. So I went, I sang to a bunch of seven year olds...and then a few days later everyone at my school was making fun of me." Her gaze began to lower as those days started coming back to mind.

The Doctor suddenly felt very guilty for making her explain what he now knew wouldn't be pleasant.

"A lot of them were telling me that I couldn't do better than sing for kiddies. Others would say that only kids liked me," Avalon's shoulders shrugged as an attempt to be casual, but her face was scrunching every now and then as a warning that tears would be forming soon. "But I could take it - I always did. I had Lena, Amy, Rory and Mels. It's when they started threatening to tell Holly all about my life that I snapped. I was scared that they would do it because if they did tell her all the bad stuff I would do...she would stop liking me. Plus, I didn't want them picking on her - she was seven! So...so...I got into fights. I broke two girls' noses, gave a guy a black eye, I kicked another one where they shouldn't be kicked...basically, anyone who got in my face got a little something from me. I was almost expelled from school that time."

"Oh my Ava, I'm so sorry," the Doctor walked up to her and pulled her into a hug. He felt the start of a rage rush through his body, almost feeling like he should be visiting each of these people to give him a piece of his mind and something more physical.

"I'm not embarrassed that I sang for Holly's birthday, I could never be. It's just...it reminded me that no matter what I did, it was always going to be the wrong thing in everyone's eyes."

The Doctor held her tightly with that sentence. He could identify perfectly with that bit. At least he had the means to run away from that, but Avalon had been stuck in Leadworth. If only he had come back sooner for her, or better yet...if only she had been raised in the right time with her Mother. But then at the same time, if Avalon knew her choices...would she choose to live a different life even if it meant that some things - like them meeting - would change?

~ 0 ~

Avalon had never been hugged so tightly, but she would let Lena, Ryland and Gavin hug her for as long as they wanted to. It was just a reminder of what happened to her and how much time they'd been apart. There may have even been tears from each of them but they wouldn't cry. They had reasons to be happy again because they were together.

"Ava, I'll be back later," the Doctor told her after she finally pulled herself away from her family.

She turned to him, surprised to hear that he wanted to leave her. "You don't...you don't have to..." she looked back at her family for some kind of help.

"You really don't have to, big brother," Lena reiterated. "We have dinner for everyone."

"It's truly fine, Doctor," Ryland said in a significant manner that told the Doctor everything was fine between them. There was no animosity.

"I appreciate it, I do," the Doctor told them. "But I think it'd be good to give you all an evening to talk and be together. A Reynolds reunion!"

Avalon left Lena's side and approached him with a nervous face. "...you _will_ be back _tonight_ , right?" The last thing she wanted was for him to be another twelve years late.

The Doctor nodded at her, wishing he could do more than just nod to reassure her he would be back on time. "I promise. I'll just pop in for the Ponds and then skip to the evening to come get you. Couldn't be more than five minutes for me."

"You said 5 minutes the last time too," Avalon reminded him, though there was a playful smile trying to start at the corner of her lips.

"Well yeah but this time I'm going to be more careful. I've got you and the Sapling to come back for...unless you want me to take the Sapling too?"

"Nah! Leave him here!" Gavin was quick to cut in. "I'm teaching him to use my skateboard! He's in the backyard right now trying out a move!"

"Leave him here," Avalon agreed.

"Alright then, I'll be back later," the Doctor said, moving in to kiss her when he caught himself halfway. He made it seem like he was going in for a hug instead.

Avalon didn't hesitate to hug him tightly. She didn't want to admit it but being on her own with no Doctor and no TARDIS made her nervous. It wasn't that she didn't feel safe with Lena and Ryland but...there was a different type of feeling she got with the Doctor around. She hadn't been out of the TARDIS, except for that one moment she snuck out to see River, and she had the Doctor at a call's distance in case she needed something. She might just be exaggerating because of the number Kovarian did on her.

"Ava, you okay?" the Doctor asked. He wanted to leave but she was still sort of clinging to him. Maybe she wasn't ready to be on her own just yet.

Avalon realized her hands had gripped his arms while she got lost in thoughts. "Sorry!" she pulled away and crossed her arms to make sure her hands didn't go grabbing him again. "I-I'm fine...will you be around if I call?"

The Doctor gave her a smile. She wouldn't say it, he knew, but he would go along with what she truly wanted. "Of course. The TARDIS would _never_ let me miss a call from Avalon Reynolds."

When Avalon smiled - a relieved smile that the Doctor would not point out - he knew it was fine to leave then. He exchanged a quick look with Lena and Ryland and got their encouraging nods. They seemed to understand Avalon's reluctance to separate from him, something they all considered normal for her situation, so they would make sure to call him if things got truly bad that only he could fix it.

"Avalon?" Lena gently called to the woman after the Doctor had left. "You okay?"

Avalon turned away from the door and took in a small breath. "Y-yeah..." Lena moved closer to Avalon and took her hand. "I'm being silly, aren't I?" Avalon exhaled shakily and squeezed Lena's hand. "I'm not...I'm not clingy but I get this...this feeling that..." Her eyes started looking around the house as if she would catch one of the Silence in the corner or worse, Kovarian emerging from the hallway. "Cos you know...the Doctor's the only one who can...stop 'em..." She took in another breath like her lungs had run out already.

Lena worriedly glanced at her father. This was certainly not a thing they thought would happen, but it was something they should have been prepared for. According to the Doctor, Avalon had spent 2 months cooped up in the TARDIS rebuilding her health. She hadn't been out at all - the Doctor chose to omit Avalon's trip to Stormcage on her own - and was always in the company of Amy, Rory or the Doctor, as well as the Sapling. Plus, she'd been in the _TARDIS_ where no Silence could get in, much less Kovarian.

"Avalon," Ryland took his niece's hand and gently walked her away from the door. "I know it's hard but we can do this, little by little. You know what we did for dinner? Your favorite! Grilled cheese and tomato basil soup!"

Avalon sniffed the air and realized there was a sweet tomato scent in the air. "Ooh...Rory made that for me one time. It was good..."

"But is it better than _mine_?" Ryland wiggled an eyebrow at her, making her laugh. That was a good sign.

She always loved his grilled cheese and tomato basil soup. It was the one meal that Emmalina Reynolds could not make better than her husband. Avalon would eat her grilled cheese from either parent, but she always said that there was something different about her father's grilled cheese. That remained a fact even on the last day she had ate grilled cheese before stepping into the TARDIS.

And today, the story remained the same.

Avalon had taken her usual spot at the kitchen table and was handed a plate of grilled cheese with a bowl of tomato soup on the side. Soon as she took the first bite of the sandwich, she moaned with delight. "It's _so_ good," she swallowed the bit and grabbed her sandwich again. She dunked it into the bowl for a second bite.

"Yeah?" Ryland chuckled and handed her a napkin for the dripping tomato soup on her mouth.

"I don't know what you do but this always tastes so good!"

"Just my touch, I guess," Ryland took his seat as well.

The smile on Avalon's face faltered when she thought of something else he would say to her each time he made the meal. "A father's touch." Avalon swallowed the second bite and looked at Lena and Gavin standing to the side. "I want a moment alone."

"We'll get the Sapling to have dinner," Lena said and took Gavin with her.

"We don't have to do this right now," Ryland said to Avalon, but the woman had been thinking about this for a while now. She had to confirm at least one thing or she would go mad. "We can wait some more t-"

"Are you my father?"

Ryland froze with the question. He looked at Avalon but she was staring at the tomato soup in front of her. He couldn't tell if there was anger or sadness on her face. She'd long ago perfected the unreadable expression.

"Avalon, maybe we can talk about this later-"

" _No_ ," Avalon gritted her teeth, her single-word response being too low for her usual tone. "I have refused to learn about my actual Mother because I know that she left me...but I _have_ to know if you're my father. Because if you're not..." she swallowed hard and blinked away the tears in her eyes, "...then that means my actual father abandoned me too."

"No, no, he never did that!" Ryland exclaimed too quick to think about it. He just couldn't let her think that about his brother!

Avalon's eyes flickered up from the bowl, completely widened at the revelation. "You're... _not_ my Dad..."

Ryland sighed and ultimately shook his head. "No, sweetheart, I'm not."

"So I'm not even a Reynolds," Avalon took in a shaky breath. She was pulling her hands off the table when Ryland caught onto one of them. "My Mom's gone, my Dad's gone...I'm alone."

"That is _not_ true. You are never going to be alone. And you know what? No, I'm not your father but we _are_ still family. Biologically."

Avalon blinked at him, completely dumbfounded. "What?"

Ryland smiled sweetly at her. "You're not my daughter...because you're my niece."

Avalon leaned forwards to make sure she'd heard him right...because he _had_ just said that she was his...his...

"Niece? I'm your _niece_?"

Ryland nodded and patted her hand under his. "Yes, you are. You grew up with your family, Avalon. I'm terribly sorry it wasn't with your parents but you did not grow up with strangers. You grew up with me, your aunt, and your cousins."

Avalon took in another shaky breath. She looked around with an ajar mouth as she digested this big news. _Cousins_? _Aunt and Uncle_? "Lena and Gavin are my... _cousins_? Lena's my cousin?"

"Yeah, same nose," Ryland bopped her on the nose but she didn't smile back. "That's the nose your father had."

"Father..." Avalon whispered, only taking a couple seconds to make the connection. He only had one other sibling and that was... "Uncle Oliver? He's my..."

Ryland nodded again. "Oliver is your father. You are his daughter."

Avalon swallowed hard and pulled her hand out from under his. She propped her elbows on the table and brought both of her hands to cover her face. "Uncle Oliver is my Dad...he's my _Dad_!"

All those times she'd seen his pictures in their photo albums, she'd brushed him off. Sure she knew a little bit of him, but she'd never paid attention to him. And Ryland had definitely made a point of talking about him a lot...and now Avalon knew why.

"It...it doesn't make sense..." she dropped her hands to the table, shaking her head fervently. "I can't...he's _dead_!"

"Yes, he is," Ryland agreed quietly.

"But how - _why_ did he give me up? You always said that he was so fair and kind and-"

"He was! I'm sorry but I can't answer that question because I don't know what happened to him. He died shortly before you were born but I never knew what happened. His university told us it was an accident."

Avalon let out a noise but it was nowhere close to what she was feeling right now. Her father was _dead_ and she never even got to meet him. "Well... _did_ he want to meet me? Or did he run soon as he got wind I was coming?"

Ryland shook his head. "No. He knew about you, your mother must have told him when she found out she was pregnant. He was _so_ excited about you, Avalon. The first time he called me to tell me he was going to be a Dad, he talked for _hours_! He went on and on about his first baby and how he was so excited to meet you." He once again reached for Avalon's hands, smiling softly at her while she tried her best not to cry. "Your Dad was, quite frankly, a bit of a mess but the thought of _you_ suddenly had him planning for the future. He was almost going to graduate, you know? He was a music major. Said the first thing he would teach his baby was how to play piano."

Avalon had to laugh through her tears.

Ryland smiled but was close to laughing himself. "I told him he was an outright idiot! I joked I would have to buy him a baby book just so he could remember that babies couldn't actually move their fingers...or their arms!" He shook his head with a nostalgic sigh. "Oh Oliver..." He met Avalon's teary-eyed gaze and patted her hands again. "He may not have met you but he loved you _so_ much, Avalon. Actually, here's something else I know is a fact. Your name? 'Avalon'?That's what he wanted you to be called if you were a girl."

Avalon felt her heart almost stop. "R-really?"

"Yeah. He was interested in the Arthurian legend. He thought it was amazing what our human ancestors came up with and he thought that if he had a daughter, she should be called Avalon. She would be unique, far different from all the other girls."

"Well, he got that right, didn't he?" Avalon sniffed before chuckling.

"You're special," Ryland agreed.

Avalon pursed her lips together as she took a few minutes to truly digest the whole story. Part of her was relieved that at least one of her parents wanted her, not to mention the fact that she was still a Reynolds. The other side of her lamented that Lena wasn't her sister and that she would never get to meet her father.

"Avalon, about your mother..."

"No," Avalon quickly said, cutting off whatever Ryland was about to say. "I don't want to know about her."

"It's just, I don't think you're getting the whole story about her-"

"Because I don't want it," Avalon snapped. "My Dad died before I was born, but my Mother was there and she _still_ gave me up. Giving me up to my aunt and uncle doesn't excuse her abandonment. But I...I don't want to talk about her. Could we please talk more about uncle...my father? I would love to learn everything about him."

"Of course." Ryland thought that maybe with time, Avalon would be a little more open to learning about her mother. He himself didn't know what River's story was at the time of Avalon's birth, but he suspected that it hadn't been exactly the way Avalon thought it was.

"And...about you...and Lena and Gavin...I know you're not my dad, but..."

Ryland knew where she was going, what she was trying to say, and helped her out. "You can call me whatever you want. It won't hurt me if you decide to call me 'uncle' now. And Lena and Gavin know about it too. You are cousins but if you feel them to be your brother and sister, that's completely fine too."

Avalon sighed deeply and gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you." Her eyes lowered to her grilled cheese and tomato basil soup and now she felt like she could eat the whole thing in one go. "Let's have dinner...as a family."

"I like your idea," Ryland said just before calling the others over. "I made plenty so eat up!"

~ 0 ~

After dinner - which Avalon thoroughly enjoyed with all the grilled cheese she had to her heart's content - Avalon and Lena moved into Avalon's old bedroom to have some sisterly - _cousinly_ \- quality time...featuring the Sapling.

"Mother, can we read this one later!?" the Sapling called from Avalon's bed. He waved the current book in his hand, making Avalon chuckle.

She sat on the ground with Lena, both dressed in pajamas. They were treating the night like a sleepover, just like the ones they had when they were younger.

"Sure. Please take care of it," Avalon warned him, not that she needed to. The Sapling was a very responsible child.

"He seems taller to me," Lena remarked when they were able to get back into their conversation. "Do Saplings grow slowly?"

"I have no bloody idea. I'm leaving all the physical stuff to the Doctor. He can have _that_ conversation with the Sapling all on his own."

Lena laughed. "Good call."

Avalon agreed with a hum. It was so easy to laugh along with Lena and be herself. During these moments, Avalon didn't even remember she'd traveled the stars and gotten kidnapped. She was just having a sleepover with her sister - cousin - with one tree child on the side.

But there was still something that Avalon wanted to address before the night was over. "Lena, um, there's something I want to talk about for a moment. It's about...it's about my actual parents...and what we-" she pointed at herself then at Lena, "-are."

Lena could see the struggle Avalon was going through just to keep going. "Avalon, I know. I really know it all."

"So you know that we're not actually sisters..." Avalon looked afraid for some reason. Lena couldn't understand why but she would do her best to ease whatever was making it so.

"We're cousins by blood but you are still my sister. You're my slightly older sister." Lena reached for Avalon's hand and showed off their matching sister bracelets hanging on their wrists. "Nothing changes that."

Avalon leaned over and hugged Lena tight. "I am so lucky to have you, you know?"

Lena snorted. " _Why_? You got stuck babysitting me most of the time."

Avalon pulled away and shook her head. "If I hadn't had you...I would've been truly alone. You were always there with me, Lena. Before there was an Amy, Rory or a Doctor...it was you and me. The Reynolds twins. I love you, Lena, and I really hope that nothing changes between us."

"I love you too," Lena smiled. "And nothing ever will. I'll always be here when you need me. We can make these sleep overs a thing, actually! Maybe once or twice a month!? We could make it a Reynolds sister night. No outer-space, no Ponds, no TARDIS, no Sapling and no Doctor." She wagged a finger at the mention of her big brother. "He'll have to survive without you for one night."

Avalon laughed with a blush on her face. "I think he'll be just fine."

"Oh hey, do you know what? They've been remodeling that little book store you used to go into," Lena said as she pushed herself up from the ground. "The grand opening is this week and they're asking for volunteers to read a story to the kids in the park as a way to advertise."

"Sounds great," Avalon said as she got up. She rubbed her hands to get rid of the dust but Lena had walked over with a hand sanitizer bottle in hand. "Seriously?"

Lena gave an affirmative nod. "Doctor's orders."

"Oh for the love of..." Avalon snatched the sanitizer and squirted the cool liquid on her palms. Lena took the bottle so Avalon could rub it over her hands. "You're all being ridiculous, you know that?"

Lena wouldn't even try to remind Avalon that all these rules were for _her_ safety. "Now you see how _I_ feel."

Avalon stopped rubbing her hands when she realized Lena was absolutely right. All her life, she had been devoted to keeping up Lena's frail health. Even when Lena would repeatedly tell her that she was fine, Avalon wouldn't listen. She just made sure that Lena followed all her restrictions, took her medicine, etc.

"Oh God Lena, I'm so sorry," Avalon swallowed thickly. "I must have been so annoying."

But of course Lena would never say something like that, not even think it. She just chuckled. "I knew why you were doing it. You love me and you were just making sure that I was okay. _That's_ what we're trying to do for you now, okay? So please let us." She waved the sanitizer bottle in her hand and went to place it on Avalon's writing desk.

"It's just annoying," Avalon muttered. "I'm not used to being so restricted."

"Oh, I know," Lena laughed as she wondered how many times Avalon had screamed her head off when the Doctor, Amy or Rory told her she couldn't do something because of her fragile immune system. She felt sorry for all three. "Come here," she gathered her sister, her cousin, in a hug. "I'm sorry this happened but at least know that it won't last forever. I know my big brother is working to get your health back up."

"Yeah, but it'll never be what it was," Avalon said, lamenting the fact but never that she had used it to save the Doctor. She would just have to get used to the fact she could get sick now, and perhaps a dangerous version of it too.

"I think we should make it a move night!" Lena suggested after watching Avalon's face slowly fall. She would not let that happen if she could help it!

"I want a movie night!" the Sapling tossed his book to the side, wincing when his mother snapped at him to pick it up. He dove to the side of the bed and retrieved the book from the ground. "Can we watch a movie!?"

Before either Reynolds could answer, the Doctor knocked on the open door and walked into the room. "Hey! How did we do today?"

"You make me sound like a child coming back from a school day," Avalon shook her head.

"In her pajamas?" he looked her over and chuckled at her pink pajama short set. They had little golden crowns adorning the shirt and the shorts. _So Avalon._

"She was good, big brother!" Lena said as she came to hug him. "But is it time for you guys to go? We were just thinking about a movie night."

"Does Avalon want to stay more?" the Doctor asked while specifically looking at the woman in question.

Avalon seemed unsure and since Lena noticed it, she dialed it back. "Why don't you talk it over? Sapling, you want a quick ice cream snack before you go?"

The Sapling didn't need to be asked twice. Once again, he chucked his mother's book to the side - and since Avalon was too tired over it, she let it be - and hopped off the bed. "Is there strawberry!? I _love_ strawberry!"

"Hmm, just like your Mother," Lena threw Avalon a knowing smile as she led the tree child out of the room.

"He certainly seems at home," the Doctor chuckled as they heard the Sapling beg his aunt Lena for _two_ strawberry ice cream sandwiches instead of just one.

"I'm glad," Avalon said with a light smile. Her dad - her _uncle_ \- hadn't even batted an eye at the fact she had somehow created a wooden, tree child with an alien. She supposed that after everything, Ryland thought it was the least of their worries.

"How are you?" the Doctor moved up to her, taking her hands and mentally nothing if temperature was stable.

"Good," Avalon shrugged. But just in case, he moved his hands up to her forehead. "Doctor..." she sighed but let him be.

"Yup, pretty good!" he grinned at her despite her annoyance. She didn't even bother stopping him from scanning her with his sonic. He _needed_ to know if any part of her had reacted badly to the change in environment. He was relieved to see she hadn't.

"Are we done now?" Avalon walked away, heading towards the spot the Sapling had thrown her book.

"Yes, actually," the Doctor swiftly dropped his sonic back into his jacket's inside pocket. "You're doing fantastic!" Of course his grin began to fade when he noticed her grim face. She was _physically_ fantastic, but not in mental terms. "Ava..."

"I know who my real Dad is. Oliver Reynolds." Avalon cut him off and even stopped him from walking to her. She gazed up from her book to see his expression. "You already knew, huh?"

The Doctor gave a silent nod and visibly swallowed roughly. "Yeah..."

"I asked you not to tell me, don't feel bad," she said and crossed the room to put her book away.

"I'll always feel bad for what happened to you, Ava," the Doctor watched her struggle to squeeze her book between others on the shelf. She truly had a _lot_ of books. "It was my fault."

Avalon shot him a look for those words. "It's not your fault that my Dad died."

_That's still up for debate_ , he thought.

"But at least I know that he wanted me, he actually loved me," Avalon smiled to herself. "My Dad had all these plans for me and him..." She quickly rubbed her eyes before tears could spill.

"Hey," the Doctor reached for her hand, tugging her away from the bookshelves to him. He could hear her shaky exhale threatening to become the start of a sob.

"He was going to teach me how to play piano..." Avalon swallowed a lump in her throat but even as she fought against it, the tears kept pooling in her eyes. "Imagine that? My Dad teaching me piano." She pushed the Doctor's hands away from her and move around him, making her way to her bed. She didn't want to cry and much less in front of him. She'd been doing that a lot.

"I _am_ sorry, Avalon," the Doctor turned after her and walked a few steps towards the bed. She might be wanting space and that was completely fine.

"Not your fault," Avalon sat down on the foot of her bed and patted the vacant spot next to her. At the Doctor's questioning look, she chuckled.

And it was because she laughed that the Doctor dared to believe she would be able to move on from her father's death. He came over and sat where she had indicated him to. Soon as he did, Avalon scooted up on the bed so that her feet wouldn't dangle when she laid down. It only took one soft-eyed look from her to make the Doctor follow.

"Dad...my _uncle_ ," Avalon closed her eyes as she recited the new term she would be using to address Ryland, "Uncle Ryland told me that he would tell me everything about my real Dad. He said if I stayed a bit more, he would tell me anything I wanted to know about my Dad. There's albums and videos too."

"That sounds lovely. So, you want to stay then?"

Avalon didn't answer straightaway. Her eyes traveled to the ceiling that was covered by the thin layer of her canopy bed's curtain.

"Ava?" the Doctor snaked his hand around until he found Avalon's hand. He brought her hand to his lips for a kiss then rested them between their bodies. "It's okay if you want to stay. I know Lena's probably waiting to hear if you're leaving or not."

"Would you be okay with that?" Avalon turned her head in his direction.

The Doctor chuckled. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you've been on my case about my health."

"Fair enough, but you've done well today. I think a few days here wouldn't hurt you."

"And...you would come back for me _on time_?" she made sure to punctuate those last two words so he would get the message.

"Absolutely," he promised, bringing her hand to his lips for another kiss. "And it's not like the TARDIS would let me be a minute late. She kind of loves you."

Avalon chuckled and looked away. "Yeah, she kind of does. So then...you'll come back Friday? That's three days from today."

"How about 10 a.m sharp?"

"Deal!" Her smile only last a few seconds, but that was normal. With everything that'd happened, she could only hold her smile for a few seconds.

"Avalon?"

"My Dad gave me that name," she whispered, her eyes lowering. It seemed like a smile wanted to come back to her face but it struggled. "Apparently, he learned of the Arthurian legend at his university. _The Isle of Avalon_ was one of his favorite parts of the Legend. He gave me that name because it was unique...and he thought I would be unique too."

"Yeah, I think he got that part right," the Doctor said, making her chuckle. If only she knew how right her father had been.

"I wonder what he would've thought about me if he saw me now," Avalon bit her lower lip nervously. "He'd be disappointed in what his 'unique' daughter turned out to be."

"Oh, we're not going down that road, Avalon," the Doctor warned her, his eyes jokingly narrowing on her.

"Oh come off it, Doctor," Avalon pulled her hand out of his and turned on the bed to face him, tucking both her hands under her head. "His 'unique' daughter turned out to be rude, a thief, a criminal - though I was never convicted - and somebody who doesn't know when to shut her trap. That's me."

"That is _not_ you," the Doctor tried to argue but she sighed and turned her body away so her back was to him. "Avalon Harmony Po - Reynolds!" He might have just been about to call her a _Pond_. Funny how quickly his mind sorted that out. She was another Pond, _his_ Pond.

"I swear to God you better stop using my middle name," she muttered on her side. "The day I find out your middle name - if Time Lords even have that - I _will_ use it on you too."

The Doctor could find a second to smile at her threat. He'd go over that with her another time. He scooted closer to her and slipped his arm under hers and her waist. He pressed a kiss to her cheek and tasted salt remnants on his lips. She was quietly crying and that type of crying was the worst kind. "My Ava, listen to me," the Doctor spoke in a hushed tone. "Yes, maybe you did do some not-so-good choices-"

"Not 'maybe', I _did_ ," Avalon corrected him. She'd never lie and say she'd been the perfect girl growing up and he knew that. She'd always been honest about her history and she wasn't going back on it now.

"Right, okay, but you're still a good person. You're adventurous and sometimes...sometimes that leads to trouble. _I_ would know. But your father would be _so_ proud of everything you've accomplished. You've helped save the world countless times."

" _You_ did that, I just helped."

The Doctor rolled his eyes and went on. "It was a team effort! Plus, you've helped take care of Lena when she was at her worst. You gave up a good part of your life to make sure that Lena was safe and healthy. I don't think you've quite realized the impact you've had on people."

"Why do you say that?" Avalon swore there was a mischievous glint in his eyes. Something he was choosing to save for later was clearly occupying his mind right now.

"I think we should go visit your old friend Zelda Fitzgerald soon," he said, leaving his cryptic response as the final thing he would say on that matter.

Avalon arched an eyebrow at him but nothing would make him add on. She gave up quick and sat upright, leaning forwards. Her fingers danced along the lapels of his jacket as little, by little, she scooted closer to him. "Do you really think he would be proud of me?" she asked in a feeble voice.

It was a rare sight to see her like that, but lately Avalon struggled to find her old self. The Doctor didn't blame her and he didn't make her feel bad about it. He would just try to pull her out of it however he could. "Without a doubt," he put a finger under her chin and gently raised her head up. "And you know, when you're ready, we could...bend the rules a bit."

"How do you mean?"

"We can't change the past, we really _can't_ , but we could go back and...see him, just for a bit." The Doctor knew what he proposed was a bad idea, he remembered well what happened when Rose made him take her back to see her father before he died, but _he_ had done so much to Avalon's life that he _needed_ to do _something_ good for her. He needed to try and repair some of the damage he caused. Besides, Avalon wasn't like Rose. Avalon had traveled with him far longer than Rose had when she visited her father.

"We could...we _could_?" Avalon whispered, her fingers now gripping the Doctor's lapels. "We could do that? I-I could _see_ him?"

"For a bit, but you wouldn't be able to tell him anything about his future."

"You always say we can't go back in a person's time line, though...why would you let me do it?"

The Doctor tilted his head slightly, a soft smile spreading across his face as he brought his fingers up to her cheek. "I'd do anything for you, Ava."

_'He loves you so, so much that he would literally rip the world apart for you.'_ River's words came running into Avalon's mind. She swallowed hard and really tried to calm her pounding heart under her chest. The Doctor was still smiling at her, not even looking at her. He was following his fingers over her cheek but in a way that Avalon had never seen any of her previous boyfriends do. Even _that_ was different, not to mention it _felt_ different too.

"Would you really?" she whispered to him.

He nodded within the second she asked him. On some level, the fact he was sure of it scared him a little. Of course he wouldn't take anyone else to see a dead relative - it was against the rules! But he knew, he just knew, that if Avalon asked him to do it, he would. "I would go to any measures to make you happy."

It was impossible not to feel _some_ type of way with those words, especially when Avalon realized no one else had ever said that to her with such intensity. It made her feel some kind of way that she couldn't really put into words to describe it. And the way the Doctor was looking at her? He had finally looked into her eyes and there was pure honesty in his along with an intense adoration just for _her_. She couldn't remember anyone else who would look at her like that. There just something different about this relationship, she knew it, but she couldn't really understand what it was. She couldn't think of a word to describe how she felt overall...

But she was missing _air_. With just one look of his, the Doctor had her missing air like a schoolgirl.

When her eyes teared up, the Doctor's own eyes widened in panic. Had he said or done something to further upset her!? _I thought I said some pretty nice words_ , he reasoned with himself and before he could go down a road full of self blame, Avalon hugged him. She wrapped her arms around him to the point it might be considered more clinging than hugging, but she didn't care. If she couldn't say what he made her feel, then she would just show him.

The Doctor brought his arms around her body and kissed the top of her curly hair. "So, Friday?" She nodded silently but kept her arms around him for a bit longer. He would let her. "And listen, while you're here...try to forget about time traveling and space. Just be with your family, enjoy yourself and...be at peace."

"I can't forget about you, though," she tilted her head up but because she had clung to him, she only saw his jaw. "Never been able to do that. Not even when Kovarian tried to make me." She felt his body stiffen under her. She'd yet to explain some parts that she'd remembered from her time with Kovarian. "We'll talk afterwards."

The Doctor only nodded. He could only wonder - as he had been ever since Avalon got back - what Kovarian told her about him. For all the craziness that woman owned, she _was_ right about a few things concerning him. He dreaded to know what she told Avalon.

"Hey. I have something for you," he said after a few minutes of silence. Avalon tilted her head up to see him reaching for something in his jacket's inside pockets. Eventually, he pulled out his old watch that she used to bargain with in the black market.

Her eyes widened in true shock. "You got it back..."

"Of course I did," he nodded. "I got your message, Ava."

Fresh tears came to her eyes. "You did. Thank you."

The Doctor held the watch for her to see. He'd fixed it as soon as she back in the TARDIS and resting after Berlin. The clock was working again after she'd broken the hour hands, and the glass was replaced from when she shattered it. It looked exactly the same as the day she won it off him in their Christmas bet.

"I think it's about time it goes back to where it belongs," the Doctor raised Avalon's left hand.

"You really want to give it back?" she asked even when he was already wrapping it around her wrist. "You always said that I conned you out of it."

"I still think you cheated," he mumbled, making her frown, then added, "But it belongs with you now. I can't think of anywhere else it should be."

Avalon smiled when as he brought her hand up to his lips for a kiss. "So...it's mine now? It's really mine?" He nodded his head. The watch they'd argued over for a full on year was now officially _hers_. She almost laughed at how times changed.

"It looks better on you anyways. Plus," the Doctor let her hand go to cup the side of her face, "It's a reminder that I'm always with you. And if we're ever separated, for whatever reason, I'll _always_ come for you."

Avalon swallowed hard again. Oh, he was really doing good with these words today. "My Fairy Tale Man...you should kiss me right about now..."

The Doctor smirked. "Yeah..." He captured her lips in a sweet kiss. Lately, there was nothing he liked to do more than kiss Avalon.

Too bad he heard the Sapling shouting at Lena that he would come ask his parents if they wanted ice cream sandwiches.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Soo, Avalon knows half the truth now. She'll get there, I promise, but just not now. But can I say I just really loved writing the watch bit? It's one of my favorite things between them because they really started out arguing over who got to keep the stupid watch and now they mutually agree that it's Avalon. Excuse me for a little moment *sniffles.

**P. S:** As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is " **noble-crescent** " and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	18. Stars Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avalon gets the opportunity to do something in Leadworth that she always dreamed of doing.

_"Oliver, you're crazy!"_

_"Nah, just-just listen, alright!? It'll be amazing!"_

_"You're out of your mind!"_

_"We'll be a duo!"_

_"You're crazy!"_

Avalon watched the video-call between Ryland and her father with tears in her eyes. Despite being an unborn child - a _fetus_ \- Oliver Reynolds was adamant that his child would be his musician partner. According to the video call, his child - whether son or daughter - would inherit some of his musical talents and so they would become a famous musical duo.

' _What if they don't even like music!?"_ Ryland couldn't stop laughing.

Oliver didn't seem to be able to believe that nonsense. ' _Any child of mine is going to love music.'_

_'Oh, so you're planning on having more kids? Slow down, Olly, **I** don't even have a kid!'_

' _Yet,_ ' Oliver pointed through the screen. ' _Your daughter is going to be born right around the time my kid will be. That'll be fun, won't it? They'll have each other's company.'_

_"Yeah._ _So you still don't know what you're having, then? Girl or boy?"_

_"Nah. Though it'd be better to have a surprise! And I can't wait!"_

Avalon watched the remainder of the call but once it cut off, she took a moment to calm herself down. She'd been watching these types of video calls nonstop ever since Ryland had brought _the box_ to her. She looked up from the cellphone and let her eyes gaze over the brown box sitting next to her on her bed. Ryland had known that one day, his brother's daughter would want to know about him so he gathered everything he could about Oliver for that very day.

The day was yesterday.

Avalon had gone through albums, individual pictures, videos, video calls from saved cellphones, etc. Everything in that box she'd seen and she would go through it all over again when she was done.

Seeing her real father brought a different, but powerful, joy that Avalon knew she never felt before. This was one of the people that gave _life_ to her. He was where she came from. And he seemed amazing. Fresh tears filled Avalon's eyes each time she reached the same conclusion. She looked at the cellphone in her hand and started the video call over again only to pause when the screen when her father appeared.

Oliver Reynolds was a handsome man. He was a tall man - probably around 6'0 - and had orangey hair. Avalon had actually compared her own orange hair to her father's and concluded that while her hair was more on the fiery orange side, Oliver's was lighter orange- _brown_ shade. He seemed to prefer always having a beard, but Avalon liked to think that it worked for him. (She couldn't picture Ryland with one, though). His eyes were a dark brown with flecks of green, something that Avalon wished she had inherited. They were beautiful eyes. It looked like he was strong too, Avalon had noted he had prominent biceps. She wondered if he had a good dating life - God knew _she_ had - and if he was where her flirting skills came from.

After going through more of his things, Avalon concluded that he was a talented musician. He had known how to play nearly every instrument his fingers had come across with. He only refused to play the harp, citing it was much too boring and would put people to sleep in two minutes. Avalon actually laughed when she learned that because it sounded like something she would say too. Oliver had done many shows, ranging from a simple guitar show at some lounge place in his university to more elegant, upstate areas around the university. There seemed to be one prominent coffee shop he favored since there was a lot of videos of that one place. It had a sort of FRIENDS' vibe to it, Avalon made a silent promise to herself that she would one day visit that place. People loved her father's music. Avalon would sell her soul to go to just one of his shows. After hearing one of those live shows through a video, Avalon wished he could've sung lullabies at bedtime. That sweet lullaby poem she kept remembering came to mind and she wondered if she was just making it up to fit with her wish for her father to have sung it to her.

When it came to academics, Oliver faltered a bit. He hated mathematics, something that Avalon whole-heatedly agreed with, and thought science was a waste of time because he would be singing, not be stuck in a lab. He tolerated history and literature and other subjects he had to take. He skimmed through but the University accepted him because of his irrefutable musical talent. Avalon thought it was ironic she thought the same of school yet she'd gotten perfect scores in each of her subjects. She agreed whoever invented mathematics should be burned alive but the other subjects she actually liked. Science almost always ended up with some interesting catastrophe in school that would make her laugh. And she absolutely adored literature and history. _Guess that's all me,_ she chuckled to herself.

Oliver hated cooking, preferring to leave that up to his brother apparently. He loved going out, though. Life of the party he was, Ryland told her but also made it clear that Oliver was a responsible party-goer. Avalon suspected that'd been added so she wouldn't use the excuse that she'd gotten her father's reckless love for parties. He was all types of amazing. He was always full of jokes, he was a helper too. He tutored other students struggling in the music major. He even taught people how to play instruments!

Avalon wished with all her heart that she could've met him, that he could've been a part of her life. And that's when the tears would build up in her eyes. Each time she remembered that he hadn't been able to raise her, it broke her heart. Just like his memory brought her a powerful joy, it brought a surge of misery. He'd died a long time ago and it was set in stone. He could never be with her.

"Hey Avalon," Lena cautiously walked into Avalon's room with a breakfast tray in her arms. "Gavin's at school and Dad's off to work but he made sure to leave some breakfast for us. I figured you'd want to eat in here."

Avalon set the cellphone next to her and helped Lena set the tray on the bed. "Thanks."

"And we've followed the Doctor's and Rory's dietary guidelines too so eat up!"

Avalon rolled her eyes and picked up her spoon. There was a yogurt bowl that admittedly looked appetizing.

Lena's eyes gazed over the box and smiled softly at Avalon. "How are you?"

"Well, truthfully, bit heartbroken. But I suppose that's normal," Avalon took a mouthful of yogurt. Oh, greek yogurt! That was good!

"I'm sorry," Lena said, as if she had some fault in the whole matter. "By what Dad's told us, uncle Oliver sounded like a good person."

"He was," Avalon could now say with full confidence. Her father was the best man in the world. _Well, next to someone else of course. Or they could both be the best!_ Avalon smiled to herself. The Doctor would definitely get a kick out of hearing what she thought of him. _He won't hear it; not in his smug life._

Lena could only assume that Avalon was thinking about her father again. She turned away and started leaving when she noticed a folded paper threatening to fall from the corner of Avalon's writing desk. She picked it up and, seeing _For Avalon_ written by the Doctor himself, she got curious. She learned the Doctor's hand writing a long time ago.

"Avalon, you got something from the Doctor?" she turned back, waving the folded paper. Avalon didn't seem to recognize it, which just made Lena even more curious. "You didn't notice it before?"

"No, I've been going through my Dad's box all day since yesterday," Avalon reached a hand out, wiggling her fingers to get that paper. Lena returned to the foot of the bed and handed the paper over.

Avalon unfolded the paper and looked it over, immediately recognizing the contents of the paper as one of her old applications. Lena noticed the shock and, despite her best efforts, she was drawn to her side.

"What is it?" she tilted her head, letting her ashy brown strands of hair tickle Avalon's cheek.

With a playful roll of her eyes, Avalon pushed Lena's hair behind their shoulders. "This is one of the applications I almost sent to Mrs. Kepner's bookstore. She was having a competition to see which young, aspiring writer could write the best short story to publish. It was a big thing."

"But you never sent it?" Lena asked her, frowning.

"I chickened out. Thought it'd be no use. Why would the Doctor leave this for me again?"

Lena was about to shrug her shoulders when she saw a smaller strip of paper next to the writing desk, right where the folded paper would've fallen. "Oh!" she dashed towards it and swiped it off the floor. "He wrote something else!" And she ran back to the bed, landing in a sitting position next to Avalon, rocking the meal tray. "Sorry! Just excited!"

"For what?" Avalon took the paper from her.

"Well, you know my big brother. He never does something without a good reason."

"Yeah, well, you weren't there when he mentioned that he once plumbed his brain into the core of an entire planet just to halt its orbit and win a bet." Avalon rolled her eyes but Lena burst into a fit of laughter. "Don't laugh! He was stupid! He was so, _so_ stupid!"

"That just really sounds like my big brother!"

Avalon sighed and set out to read the note.

_My Ava, I know you chose not to submit this story for your contest but I really think you should at least show it to the creator of the competition. Your stories are too beautiful to leave in the dark. And maybe read it to me? I'd love to hear your story voice. - your Fairy Tale Man._

Lena couldn't see what the note said but it had to have been good because Avalon was smiling so fondly, so...lovey-dovey. "What did he say?"

Avalon suddenly remembered that she wasn't alone and blushed for spacing out like that. "Nothing," she said too quickly.

Lena shot her a suspicious look while Avalon did her best not to meet her gaze. "What? No, he _definitely_ wrote something! You started smiling weird!"

And said smile dropped a second later. "I do not smile weird!" Avalon argued but in doing so, she gave Lena the perfect chance to snatch the note from her hand. Avalon was stunned that Lena actually _swiped_ something off her hands. "Lena!" Lena giggled as she rushed off the bed to read the note herself. "Lena Emilia Reynolds! You give that back!"

Lena quickly finished reading the small note and when she turned back to Avalon, she was grinning from ear to ear. "Are you and my big brother _finally_ together!?"

Avalon's eyes widened but she would be damned if she gave up that quickly. "Give me that right now!"

"Not until you tell me the truth!"

"He was just being his annoying self! He found something I gave up on and of course he wants me to take it up again! He does that with all of us!"

"Yeah, but he signed it ' _ **Your** Fairy Tale Man'_," Lena giggled as she came back to the bed. She let her stomach flop on the foot of the bed and smiled at Avalon's blushing face. "And he wants you to read to him, _oooooh_!"

Avalon snatched the note from Lena as she continued to tease her. This was honestly beyond Lena. She _never_ teased. Maybe this is what happens when they finally live their own lives. "He would ask anyone to do that," Avalon made the weak argument.

"Right, would he ask, I don't know...Marilyn Monroe to do that?"

A rush of jealousy surged through Avalon just at the _idea_ of that happening. That woman had been all over him that Christmas they spent visiting Kazran. And she had the audacity to harass the poor Doctor into an engagement. They would never see that woman again. "I'd sooner kill him than let that happen," the words tumbled out of her mouth before she knew it, but she wouldn't take them back.

Lena got her confirmation and laughed with delight. "Finally! I'm so happy for you!"

"Please don't tell anyone else," Avalon said when she realized there was no going back. "It's too soon and...just...we're not ready."

"No one will get a peep out of me!" Lena mimed a zipper across her lips. "When did it happen!? How did it happen!? Have you gone out on a date already!?"

"Please stop," Avalon said with concern for her sister's - _cousin's -_ breathing. "God, I've never seen you like this."

"I can say the same thing about you," Lena fixed herself so that she could sit on the other side of the meal tray. She picked a few grapes up from the yogurt bowl. "Do you know, I've never seen you so hung up on a guy before meeting the Doctor. I mean, I guess Harry Lewis would be some competition but nowhere near close to what my big brother was."

"First of all," Avalon lowered the note to her side then picked up her spoon again, "I was not hung up on the Doctor. It was a simple attraction - it still is - and second of all, I was never hung up on Harry Lewis. I just liked his car."

"Avalon!" Lena laughed. Avalon smirked as she took another spoonful of yogurt "He did have a nice car, huh?" Lena asked as she slowly sobered. She reached for the last grape in the bowl and popped it into her mouth.

Avalon hummed. She clearly still remembered the car. "He let me drive it once. Best date of my life."

"Because he let you drive the car?"

"Mhm. Harry was kind of boring apart from the car."

"Nothing like the Doctor, then?" Lena smirked when Avalon actually choked on her yogurt. "See, even _that_ is different with him. The Avalon I knew before the Doctor came back didn't blush over things so simple like notes. And she would laugh at you for nearly choking on yogurt because of one question."

Avalon swallowed the yogurt remnants with a groan. "Okay Lena, you're right. Whatever. I like what I have with the Doctor. There. Happy?"

Lena nodded. "Mhm! I'm glad you guys got there! It's only fair after everything that happened. You should have seen him when were searching for you. Poor thing was going crazy trying to find ' _his Ava'."_

Avalon couldn't help the temporary smile that came to her face hearing that. "I'm sure he was looking for Melody too."

Lena snorted at her weak attempt to deflect the attention off the heavy meaning. "He was, but he was _very_ focused on finding _you_. I've never seen him so determined, and scary angry."

"I don't want him to get scary angry for me," Avalon mumbled. She'd seen what that face looked like and she wasn't interested in it coming back on her behalf.

Lena bobbed her head, missing the thoughts that ran through Avalon's head. "Yeah, it's pretty scary. But doesn't it make you feel a tad special that he would go to such measures for _you_?"

"Well of course it does, but I don't like him getting angry over me. I cause enough trouble as it is. And he gets himself into enough trouble too without adding me into the mix."

"You mean because of Kovarian and the Silence," Lena sighed. Avalon reached for the granola bar next to her bowl. She never liked her granola mixed with yogurt, it got too soggy. Lena watched her as she ate silently but she could see something behind those blue eyes. "Hey...do you want to talk about...what happened during those months you were gone?"

Avalon froze just as she was about to take another bite of her granola bar. It was a delicate ground Lena was treading on but she had a pretty good assumption that Avalon had kept quiet about most things that she'd gone through with Kovarian.

"It's not good, Lena," Avalon said, thinking she should spare Lena's head of all the things she'd seen.

"Which is exactly why you shouldn't keep it bottled in," Lena gently took the granola bar from Avalon's hand and set it down on the breakfast tray. "I bet you told the Doctor almost everything, huh? Sparing him the worst bits?" Avalon didn't say anything but the fact that she looked away gave Lena everything she needed to know. "What couldn't you tell him?" she gently asked.

"It's not that I won't tell him," Avalon first clarified. She already made plans to discuss the subject with the Doctor, she just wasn't sure when they would get to it. "I don't know _how_ to say it without making him feel even more guilty than what he already is." Kovarian had made a damn good job making him feel terrible about himself. He blamed himself for everything that happened to her and Melody. How could she now tell him that she learned about the worst things that'd happened to the world and his companions in the past?

Lena saw the struggle behind Avalon's eyes and reached for her hand. "You want to go out? We could talk somewhere with a lighter feel."

Avalon smiled gratefully and looked at the window on their right. It seemed like a pretty sunny day in Leadworth. "Yeah, okay."

Lena beamed. "Perfect! I'll go get changed! You finish your breakfast and we'll leave in half an hour!"

"Ok-" Avalon was cut off with Lena's exciting jump off the bed. She chuckled as Lena hurried off, shutting the door behind her. Once alone, Avalon picked up the note beside her and reread the Doctor's words again. Even if she tried to fight it, the smile that spread across her face would've came with full force. He made her go so mushy in such a short time it was ridiculous.

When Avalon finished breakfast, she went digging through her closet for some clothes. She'd actually forgotten how small her closet was. _It's not small, you just got used the magic box giving you a full scale, walk-in closet_ , she reminded herself.

That was very true. The TARDIS had nearly given her a walk-in closet in her own bedroom full of everything Avalon would love.

Eventually, Avalon found something she liked. She slipped on a white, crop shirt with short sleeves and a high neckline. She chose a pink plaid overall dress that hung above her knees. She slipped on a pair of white flats with the smallest of heels.

She checked herself in front of her vanity desk. It felt so odd sitting at it, preparing her makeup like nothing had happened, like she hadn't been kidnapped and brainwashed into killing the most amazing man she'd ever met. But things _did_ happen. Avalon leaned closer to the mirror and really stared at herself. There were no more physical injuries from Kovarian, but Avalon could still feel them. She could see them. Her entire body had been left scarred and she wasn't sure if that feeling would ever go away.

She left the vanity desk a few minutes later, deciding to only apply lip gloss. She wasn't in the mood for anything else. _Rose-gold love_. That was her favorite color. It was the perfect fairy tale shade.

"You ready?" Lena popped into the room just as Avalon finished setting all her father's belongings back into his box.

"Yes, uh..." Avalon patted her overalls as if she was forgetting something. _Keys?_ She didn't need the TARDIS key right now. _Cellphone?_ Useless. She didn't intend on calling anyone right now.

"Avalon?" Lena presumed Avalon was trying to figure out what she was needing. "What did you-"

Avalon was turning and turning trying to remember, until she stopped with a gasp. "Of course!" she rushed to her bed stand and gingerly picked up the Doctor's watch - _her_ watch. She had to take it off for a shower, though as soon as she got back to the TARDIS she would ask the Doctor if there was a way to make it water-proof. If regular watches could, then this one would be a piece of cake.

Lena watched Avalon carefully wrap the Doctor's watch around her wrist, treating it like it was entirely made out of glass. "He fixed it for you, then?"

Avalon turned back to Lena, nodding her head. "Yeah. Gave it to me before he left me here."

"Funny how you guys argued over that thing and now it's practically yours."

"Funny," Avalon agreed, slightly chuckling at her watch.

"See, if _I_ had won it back at Abigail's sister's Christmas Eve dinner, I bet the Doctor would've somehow talked me out of giving me that watch."

"I wouldn't be so sure. You're his _baby sister_ ," Avalon playfully rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, and you're _Avalon_." Lena thought that was a powerful argument that the Doctor would agree with. "He would've just persuaded me and he'd get to keep his watch. But you asked for it and he handed it over. Now look," she gestured to the watch sitting proudly on Avalon's wrist, "It's yours. And he hasn't even tried finding another one."

Avalon couldn't help the blush that crossed her face. He made her feel special indeed. "Alright. You can win this round."

Lena smirked proudly. It wasn't often she won an argument against Avalon.

~0~

Coming out to Leadworth knowing she was once again living in it did not sit well with Avalon. Even if it was just for a few days, it made her anxious. The town was still so _sl_ _ow_ , just like she remembered it. But at least now she knew it was just a visit.

They were on their way to the only coffee place Avalon deemed decent in the entire town. She swore that every other coffee shop sold water. This precise shop was where all the flavors were at. Now it was Lena who was moving the conversation along, cautiously asking Avalon about her time with Kovarian. She stayed away from the obvious no-no's like the physical torturing. Avalon seemed like she wanted to talk about something else anyways.

"Kovarian was adamant that I learn just _who_ the Doctor was, _what_ he did. She showed me some of his previous battles and the aftermath of them."

Lena dreaded to imagine what those images had been like. She loved her big brother greatly, but they always knew the truth about him. Despite his best efforts, he'd been in some serious battles before.

"The Battle of Canary Wharf was him. Did you know that?" Avalon stopped walking for a second. "I mean, I always figured because of the Daleks and the Cybermen...but to know that he was at the _center_ of it..." She shook her head with a sigh. "And then his companion got sucked into a parallel universe. Her entire family did."

"But that wasn't the Doctor's fault," Lena said, making Avalon smile.

"Oh Lena, I know." Avalon said with certainty, but she knew the reality of it. No, the Doctor had _not_ been at fault, and anyone who said otherwise she would gladly kick their ass. But, it was _his_ enemies that made it possible for Rose Tyler to be lost in another world.

"Kovarian said there was thousands of corpses left from that battle. And then she said that the Doctor just walked away from it."

"That's not true," Lena scowled. Her big brother would never walk away from things like that. He'd be first in line to help anyone who got hurt as a result from his fights.

"Of course not," Avalon agreed before she continued to walk down the sidewalk. "But I think he must have landed _later_ in time after that. Like he did with us in Amy's house, remember? He didn't mean to, but it happened. Kovarian made sure to leave it clear that the humans were left to pick up the pieces. And that it wasn't the first, nor the last."

That was when she moved on to tell another story. Lena's eyes widened when she heard the familiar name of Dr. Martha Jones.

"What do you mean there's a whole year none of us can remember!? Not even _you_!?"

Avalon shook her head. "I think I was too young, whatever's in my brain must have not been fully developed. But just to imagine that there was this whole other time lime where we were _enslaved_ if we hadn't been already murdered..." She hugged herself and felt the chills than ran over her skin. "The Doctor has never said anything about that year. And to be quite honest, I don't think he ever will."

Knowing him, he was probably too ashamed of it.

Lena would agree. She studied Avalon's expressions during the few silent minutes that passed. Lena wasn't sure if she was seeing right but if she had to take a guess, she would say that Avalon looked _scared_. She seemed scared of the Doctor, and that idea alone made her want to hurt Kovarian. If that woman had gotten Avalon to fear the Doctor even a little bit, Lena might just pick up a few things from River Song and shoot her.

Avalon then started with the story that they both knew, that they could both remember perfectly. This time, however, Avalon knew the _inside_ details behind the Reality Bomb battle. She knew how all of his companions had turned into near soldiers, ready to destroy the entire planet to stop the Daleks from using the Reality Bomb.

It made Lena seriously ask herself if she had actually met those companions a month ago. Jack and Martha didn't look like the type.

"And each time, there were casualties," Avalon sighed deeply once she neared the end of her story. "Thousands died, erased from existence, Rose was sent back to her parallel world, Donna Noble..." that's the one that truly got her because Avalon was _sure_ that if Donna had never become part Time Lord, she would still be travelling with the Doctor right now. "People have died around him, and that's why Kovarian wants to stop him. She says that she's from the future. There's a place where the Doctor is going to go one day and that he'll bring utter destruction to the world."

"Do you believe that?" Lena touched Avalon's arm, stopping them in front of a crossing street.

"I believe that one day, the Doctor will go to this place and try his best to help people...but things will go wrong," Avalon closed her eyes with another shaky sigh. It was the story of his life. "And whatever happens has scared Kovarian and her little group _so_ much, that she's come back in time to stop him from ever going to that place."

She wouldn't say it out loud, but Lena knew what was left unsaid. It was the reason Kovarian took Melody and Avalon.

"Avalon, I'm confused honestly," Lena said, taking her hand off Avalon's arm. "I thought you were happy with the Doctor. You seemed like it."

"Lena I want there to be no doubt that I am _so_ happy with him. I am not afraid of him," Avalon said earnestly. Her soft smile helped her make her point. "He is absolutely wonderful. He's my Fairy Tale Man. All mine."

"Then?"

Avalon's smile dropped as she began crossing the street. "I am aware of what surrounds him. I know that so many people want him dead. I know that he unintentionally changes people too. What if I change and become someone worse than what I already am right now? What if he starts to hate me?"

"That would never happen! He's head over heels for you!"

"Right now because it's all new. And do you know what else bothers me?" she once again came to a stop, leaving Lena to bump into her back. Avalon hesitated as she turned around. "Kovarian mentioned that she'd seen the Doctor already abandon us. He leaves us behind, switches companions again. What if he leaves _me_ behind?"

"You're afraid of the future," Lena whispered in realization.

Avalon lowered her head as if the ground was suddenly interesting. "I'm afraid something happens that changes the Doctor's mind about me. He realizes that he doesn't want me around and he drops me, Amy and Rory back in Leadworth. I'm afraid that he'll pick up some new companion and suddenly we'll just be another story of his past."

"Avalon, I really doubt that will happen-"

"That's what Kovarian said! She's already seen this new girl! She's a _girl_ , Lena! And it's that girl who'll bring my Doctor to that terrible place Kovarian is so afraid of!" Anger was quick to flash across Avalon's face, a deep anger that marred her features. Her blue eyes stormed at the thought of that girl who, if one really thought about it, was really at fault.

_That's not fair,_ she berated herself. _That girl probably has no idea what's coming either._ It was those thoughts that made it hard to stay angry.

"I think you should really talk to the Doctor about this," Lena said before giving Avalon a hug. "He'll have all the words to make you feel better about this."

_I don't want words_ , Avalon thought as she pulled away. _I want **him**. _There was just something about him that made her feel so much better about everything. She was only afraid of how he might react to the fact she now knew things about him that he probably never wanted her to know. He'd been so afraid to tell her about the Time War because he thought she wouldn't be able to see him as her Fairy Tale Man anymore, Avalon only wondered what this new one would do.

~0~

After getting her iced macchiato and Lena her vanilla bean latte, the two girls continued on their round in the town. Despite her resistance, Lena brought Avalon to Mrs. Kepner's bookstore to turn in that short story. She nearly had to push Avalon into the store but she eventually got the woman to voluntarily walk in on her own.

"There's no point, the competition was 3 years ago!" Avalon's whisper-hiss made no change at all. Lena was ushering up to the cash register.

"The point isn't to _enter_ the competition! That's not why my big brother wanted you to hand the story over!"

"Oh, my bad for thinking that a competition was just that: a competition!"

Lena rolled her eyes and gave one final push on Avalon's back, sending the woman right to the cash register. "Hello!" she called to the owner of the store.

"How can we help...?" a tall brunette woman emerged from a shelf on the left side of the place. Mrs. Kepner was a tall woman with straight, light brown hair that cascaded over her shoulders and her chest. She was in her mid-fifties which Avalon theorized was the reason she now had glasses hanging at the end of a necklace. She still sharp brown eyes though, the same ones she used to give some damn good scoldings to anyone who needed one.

Mrs. Kepner's eyes raised in genuine surprise when she saw Avalon. "My, my, I thought Miss Reynolds was off to Broadway!"

Avalon's face fell flat. "Why does everyone keep thinking that?" Lena promptly jabbed her elbow into Avalon's side. "What!?" the ginger hissed and rubbed her side.

Mrs. Kepner chuckled at the sisters. "Same mouth, my dear."

Avalon shrugged. "If it didn't change when I was a teenager, what made you think it'd change in the last year that I left?" Lena once again stabbed her elbow into her side. "OW! Would you stop doing that!?"

Lena shook her head at Avalon. "You and the Doctor are definitely made for one another with those mouths."

Avalon exhaled in annoyance. "I'm not telling lies!"

Mrs. Kepner called for the girls to calm down. She was always breaking up bickering between children who stopped by the store, cutting into grown up adults was a piece of cake. "How long you back for, Avalon?"

"Until the end of the week," Avalon promptly answered. "Nice place you got now. What made you remodel?"

"Oh you know, wanted to give it a bit of a make over. We're having our public reading tomorrow if you girls are interested. I know Avalon is." Mrs. Kepner smiled at the woman. Ever since Avalon was a child who could understand, she'd been at every single public reading. The little girl was always interested in the books that the public readers would choose. And when Avalon became a teenager, Mrs. Kepner would ask her to _be_ a public reader but each time Avalon refused. Mrs. Kepner never understood why, but Avalon wanted to spare herself the extra bullying from other people her age.

Well, perhaps that time was over now.

"Actually, Avalon wanted you to read something _she_ wrote!" Lena exclaimed, completely ignoring Avalon's hard glare.

Mrs. Kepner was surprised to hear it. "Really? I didn't know you wrote." She always told Avalon that she could pick her favorite book to read to the younger readers, but she never knew that Avalon actually _wrote_ stories.

Avalon suddenly became very nervous, so much that Lena wondered if this was truly Avalon. "I-I don't...don't really...um...it's stupid really..."

It was a good thing Mrs. Kepner was very familiar with shy writers. She had hosted several writing competitions over the years that brought her face to face with some timid young writers. She walked over to the girls, holding a hand out for Avalon's paper. "May I see?"

Avalon's mouth opened and closed several times. How could her mouth be dry when she was drinking coffee!? "It's really not good. In fact, it's probably rubbish. I wrote this a long time ago!"

Lena's mouth almost dropped to the ground in shock. Avalon was _extremely_ nervous, far more nervous than she'd ever been. This only confirmed that story writing was what Avalon truly loved to do. Lena wasn't going to let her ruin a good chance to make other people know her work was good.

"She actually wrote it for a competition you hosted about 3 years ago for publishing," Lena promptly snatched the paper from Avalon's hand and gave it to Mrs. Kepner. Avalon hadn't even blinked, Lena seriously wondered if she was forgetting how to breathe.

"Really? I don't remember seeing your name on the list," Mrs. Kepner briefly looked at Avalon as she unfolded the short story.

"She changed her mind because she was too nervous," Lena once again spoke for Avalon. Look at her now being the brave one out of the two. _She_ was speaking for Avalon now. There was a little bit of a rush going through her body right now. "But now her boyfriend and I convinced her to show it to you, just so you can see what she can do."

Avalon was _so_ out of it that she didn't even notice Lena let it slip she was in a relationship. All she knew was that somebody besides herself had her work. That _never_ happened. Avalon was always guarded when it came to her work. Sure Amy, Lena and Rory had peeked into her work but nobody had seen her _true_ writing, not even the Doctor. She wrote and wrote but she never got courage to show it to anyone else.

Mrs. Kepner wasn't the type to laugh at anyone, but Avalon always feared that's what would happen. Now as she watched Mrs. Kepner, she did it without barely breathing.

"Avalon..." Mrs. Kepner said after long agonizing minutes.

Avalon balled her fist on her side as she waited for the verdict. Lena couldn't get over the sight. She was flabbergasted.

"You _really_ should have entered the competition. This would have certainly won," Mrs. Kepner looked up from the paper to smile warmly. In that moment, Avalon might have started to breathe again.

"Y-you really think so?"

Mrs. Kepner smiled wider. "Absolutely. All these years you've been coming to listen to my public readers and grasping bits and parts of their world to create something entirely new. I love this."

Avalon swallowed thickly as she looked between her story and Mrs. Kepner. "You actually like my story? I...I...I never thought I'd hear that, honestly. I don't know what to do now..."

Mrs. Kepner chuckled and handed the paper back to Lena since Avalon was frozen. "I know what you should do. You should come back tomorrow and read that to my morning public reading for the children. I think they're the intended audience for that particular story, correct?"

Avalon very slowly nodded to the point Mrs. Kepner had to stare very closely to make sure she really was nodding.

"Ah, perfect. Would you like to do it?"

"L-l-like...like actually read my story to people?" Avalon slowly brought her iced drink to her lips in hopes of giving some water to her mouth. "I-I never...I never thought..."

Lena wanted so badly to scream ' _Yes! she'll do it_!' but this was Avalon's moment. It would be the first time ever that someone heard her stories from her. _She_ needed to say yes on her own. It was just really hard being patient and waiting through it.

"Do you think the kids would really like it?" Avalon stepped forwards. It was hard getting rid of the nervousness across her face.

"I'm sure they'd love it!"

"O-okay...I mean...okay?" Avalon swallowed roughly despite not having any saliva left in her mouth.

"Yes?" Mrs. Kepner was holding back her chuckle because the girl was far too nervous and perhaps in shock.

"Yes!" Avalon was nodding like it was still being questioned. Did Mrs. Kepner really want _her_ to read in public?

The answer was yes.

"I can't believe I just did that!" Avalon said as soon as she and Lena were out of the shop. Lena was sprinting to keep up with Avalon's fast-paced walk. "I can't believe that happened! It actually happ - Lena!" Her abrupt stop left Lena sprinting a few steps ahead. Avalon's hand flailed to catch Lena's arm. "Did that really just happen?"

Lena laughed softly, especially when Avalon's voice cracked. She grabbed Avalon's hand, squeezing it to make sure that Avalon understood this was not a dream. "Yes, it _did_! Be happy! Be _proud_!"

A smile, almost laugh, wormed its way across Avalon's mouth as it all settled. "I'm actually going to read my... _my_ story? I'm reading one of my stories!" Her eyes lit up when she finally realized what she was saying. "Lena!" her other hand flapped excitedly, "I'm reading one of my stories!"

Lena was still full of laughter. This sight of Avalon was pure novelty. "Yes, yes you are!"

"Oh my God! _Oh my God!_ "

~0~

The next day, Avalon was up and ready for the reading way before the set time. She actually hadn't slept at all that night and she didn't feel one bit tired. She would place it as her excitement, but the rest of her family knew she simply hadn't needed the sleep.

Just one thing they understood about her better. Time was they would be on her for her lack of sleep, inciting arguments all the times. Now they brushed it off and let Avalon be. They let her be _herself_. Though there were still debates about _what_ exactly they should call what she was. Amy and Rory would argue that their granddaughter was a Time Lady. From their perspective, she had the same abilities as the Doctor. Why _wouldn't_ she be called a Time Lady?

The Doctor would then point out - each time the subject was brought up - that while Avalon did have abilities like him, they were only _similar_. They were not the _same_. He would never put himself as somebody higher than Avalon - never his Ava - but his abilities were a bit stronger. So no, she wasn't a Time Lady. But she was _so_ close that he sometimes even he debated whether shooting down the label was the right call, if only to give her a proper name.

The Reynolds would then argue that Avalon was an evolutionized human. She was a human with a distinct biology that set her apart from her New Earth counterparts, and her human ancestors. Even without her healing abilities, she was a New Earth civilian. But then the Doctor would point out that Avalon had certain abilities that no other Earth Human would ever have. That's when Amy and Rory would pitch their argument all over again, thus restarting the cycle.

The only one who would have a label for her was River but the Doctor wasn't very fond of it because to him it didn't cover what Avalon truly was. River was a human, a perfectly normal human with certain Time Lord abilities. A human _plus_. Perfect label...for _her_.

Avalon was much more mixed. She was just so beautifully complex that the world didn't have a name for her yet. The Doctor liked to end the argument with that line. He loved it because it was entirely true.

Avalon had no idea what she was, all she knew was that she was in her way to read her story to children.

"Dude, _chill_ , you're reading to five year olds!" Gavin exclaimed as the Reynolds made their way to the park. "Ow!"

Ryland gave his son a stern look warning him to watch his words. It was amazing that Avalon accepted to do this and the last thing he wanted was to see her throw it away because a fifteen year old couldn't hold his tongue.

Avalon didn't even seem to have heard Gavin. She had caught sight of the park full of kids and felt like the air was fleeting from her lungs. "Oh boy that's a lot of people!"

" _Children_ who want to hear you story," Lena reminded her, bumping her shoulder with Avalon's.

"I can't believe I'm nervous but at the same time so happy? What is this!?" Avalon laughed out of sheer confusion over her feelings. "I mean, it took me an entire hour to find something good to wear!" She'd decided on a baby blue, tweed wrap dress with a white collar and white long sleeves. She paired it with heeled, white combat boots. Her hair was left in its natural curls with only one silver butterfly-shaped barrette on the side of her head.

"You look beautiful, sweetheart," Ryland assured her as they reached the park.

Children were already sitting on the grass waiting for the reader to arrive. Parents were gathered around murmuring their conversations while they waited. Mrs. Kepner was the first to spot the Reynolds and gleefully got things started.

She walked up to the microphone stand at the head of the crowd. " _Alright boys and girls. Thank you for waiting so patiently. Are you ready?"_ The children collectively yelled 'Yes!'. " _Now this reader is very special, and do you know why? She used to come to my readings when she was a little girl just like you. She listened to all my stories and all my friends' stories until she was able to make one up. Can you say hello to my friend, Avalon Reynolds?"_

Lena had to physically push Avalon towards the microphone. If Gavin had his way, he would have shoved Avalon all the way. Eventually, Avalon made her way up to the stool in front of the microphone. She gazed at all the children who were all now keenly watching her every movement.

She was nervous. Oh, she was _nervous_. She pressed her dress and sat down on the stool. She couldn't help but notice some of the strange looks a few parents were giving her. No doubt they already assumed she would turn this event into something foul and inappropriate for their children.

_Same old story in Leadworth,_ she inwardly sighed. But, before her spirits could truly reach a new low, her eyes found a little girl in the front row actually scooting closer to her. She was clearly excited of whatever story Avalon was going to say. She reminded Avalon of herself when she was in the girl's spot. She'd always been so excited about the public readers. She'd make sure her parents brought her super early so she could sit right in the front spot.

This little girl right now was her, Avalon was sure. Her little blonde pig-tails bounced each time she scooted forwards. Her bright blue eyes gazed up and met Avalon. "Are you going to read now?" she asked in a high voice that only a five year old could own.

"Aurora," a woman, Avalon assumed her mother, hissed at the little girl from the side. "Scoot back! Aurora!"

"You're name's Aurora?" Avalon asked the girl who excitedly nodded her head. "Hmm, do you know that's my favorite fairy tale? Sleeping Beauty, Princess Aurora!"

The little girl beamed. "I love that movie!"

"Well then, Aurora, I'm going to read my story that I wrote. And-" Avalon raised her eyes to meet the other children's gazes, "-I hope everyone likes it. It's called _Stars Dance_."

"Stars Dance? That's funny," Aurora was the first to say, making the other children giggle. Avalon did so too. "How do stars dance?"

Avalon took a deep breath in and finally started her story. " _S_ _tars dance when a little girl or boy cries by them self. And for Emma Devito, the stars danced when she was just five years old..."_

Aurora gasped. "Like me!"

"And me!"

"And me!"

Avalon smiled as one by one, each child raised their hand to make sure that everyone knew they were five years old too. Those who were older or younger kept quiet...for the meantime. " _Emma Devitto was a little girl who loved her Mother very much. One day, though, she got very upset with her Mummy and she ran out of her house. She ran, and ran, and ran...until she found a beautiful meadow that seemed endless. She came across crystal clear water and when she peered inside-"_ Avalon dramatically gasped and almost laughed when all the children gasped with her, "- _she saw there were sparkling fishes swimming! And then one of them spoke to her! It was a bright pink fish who poked her head out of the water, '_ Why are you so sad, little girl? _' she asked Emma. And Emma responded: '_ Oh, I have run away from home! My mother was very mad with me and now I am so sad _.' So the fish tried to cheer Emma up. '_ Here, taste the water! It's like cotton candy!' _The little fish wiggled its tail, splashing water at Emma so she could taste the splendid cotton candy!' But Emma would not smile."_

As Avalon got further into her story, she never noticed that it was no longer only Lena, Ryland and Gavin watching and listening. The Doctor, Amy and Rory had appeared only seconds into her story. Lena bumped shoulders with the Doctor when she realized their arrival. As the culprit, she smiled very proudly. Of course they couldn't miss Avalon's first public reading.

As _if_.

"How'd you get that to happen?" Amy whispered to Lena, truly shocked to see Avalon willingly reading her work in public. She never thought she'd see the day.

"I didn't. This is all her," Lena proudly said.

There was a small click of a picture that drew the group's attention to Rory. He lowered his phone and slowly met their gaze, eyes darting from them to Avalon. "What? I'm a proud grandfather."

"And I'm a proud mother." River's voice left them frozen in their spots when she walked up beside the Doctor. She was smiling like only a mother would when their child was doing something incredible. "Why are you looking at me? Your eyes should be on Avalon. She's doing amazing."

" _...but even as Emma explored this wondrous meadow, discovering the most unusual creatures, she felt her heart sadden even more. She really missed her Mummy. Suddenly, a little chirpy voice called from one of the trees and when Emma looked up, she saw a bird gazing down at her. '_ Why are you so sad, little girl? _' it asked her. '_ Oh, I have run away from home! My mother was very mad with me _.' Emma would respond. And just like the fish before, the little bird tried to make Emma laugh. It chirped and flew around her head. '_ Shall we sing and dance? I can do both, you know! _' But Emma shook her head and sniffed. '_ I miss my Mummy. _'_

"Why are you here?" Ryland hissed at River, pulling her back only a step until River pushed his hand off her arm.

"It's alright," she reassured him and the others. "It's safe. As safe as it can get around the Silence."

"Where are you?" the Doctor asked her.

"Far ahead my dear."

"How did you know to come?" Amy moved her way around the group to hug River. Rory soon did the same.

"Avalon invited me," River chuckled then glanced at the Doctor. "Fair notice: you'll be heisting soon."

"What?" the man, of course, had no idea what she meant but instead of explaining, she put a finger to her lip and pointed at Avalon with another.

"My daughter is reading her first story. Shush time!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes but she actually made a good point. He would much rather watch his Ava tell her beautiful story. She looked so at home right now that she didn't even notice he had come to watch her, much less that Amy, Rory and River were there as well. The Doctor felt like he could stand there and listen to her stories all day, and he probably could. He'd been right, her imagination was so vast that she could create worlds on a whim of thought.

Avalon had gotten far more animated with her story. At some point, without realizing it, she'd gotten up from her stool to make the movements of the creatures she described in her story. Every child was hooked on her words and she didn't even notice. All she knew was that she was telling a story, a story so crazy and magical...and a story that was _hers_.

" _And finally Emma had left the poor butterfly who couldn't make her smile either. Emma came up to a hillside and sat on the mushy grass. She sniffled and looked up at the sky. There were so many stars. She loved watching them with her Mummy. But now there she was...all alone."_ As Avalon pouted, so did all the other children. "Why are you so sad, little girl? _' Emma heard the voice of the moon!"_ Her eyes widened dramatically as she raised a finger up to the sky. " _And Emma answered, just like before, '_ Oh, I have run away from home. My mother was very mad with me. _' The moon shook its entire self-"_ In real life, Avalon shook her head too, making her curls go back and forth, "Little children should not cry _,' it told Emma. But Emma could not help it. She sniffled and sniffled until finally, the started to cry."_ Avalon mimicked the sniffling too. " _'_ I miss my Mummy so much! _' she cried into the sky and as she rubbed her eyes she started to hear giggling. She looked up at the sky again and she saw the stars! And-"_ Avalon gasped, once again causing the domino effect with the children, "- _they_ _were dancing! All the beautiful, silver stars were dancing in the sky. Emma could not believe it! '_ Do not cry little girl! When a child cries, we must dance! Stand up and dance with us! _' Emma giggled at the funny stars. She got up and started to dance with them! One by one, the stars came down like a swarm and danced around her body. Emma giggled when one star shook so much that it sprinkled tiny stars on top of her head. And as she shook her head to dust herself off, she began to hear a voice...'_

_'_ Emma! Emma! Where are you? _' It was her mother! Emma's Mummy had come to find her! Emma was so happy to see her that she ran down the hillside, ran through the trees, and over the small river, to find her Mummy! And when Emma hugged her Mummy, she looked up at the sky again and saw the stars were returning to the sky.'_

_'_ Emma, are you okay? _' her mother asked her once they started walking for home._

_'_ Yes. I cried a lot because you were upset with me but then the Stars started dancing. Isn't that silly? Stars Dance? _'_

_Emma's Mummy chuckled. '_ Well, they do say that stars dance when a little girl or a little boy is so very sad and start to cry. Did they dance for you? _'_

_'_ Oh yes! And they did make me feel better! _' said Emma. She gazed up at the sky again and smiled at one star who was still dancing in its spot._ _Maybe there was another little girl or boy crying somewhere and that star was dancing for them. They could all go dance for another child now because Emma was happy with her Mummy again. The end.'_

Avalon finished with a grand smile that turned into a laugh when the children erupted into applause. She felt her heart swell when she realized that they had all loved her story.

"I want to be Emma!" Aurora exclaimed with her small hand waving in the air. "I want to be Emma and see the stars dance!"

"Me too! I want to be Emma!" went another child behind her, and then another...until suddenly she had the whole group of children proclaiming they wanted to be Emma. Some even volunteered to be the talking fish, others to be the birds, one firmly said that they would be the moon. A few minutes later, there were several little stars dancing in the park.

Mrs. Kepner chuckled as she once again took the microphone but before Avalon would walk away, she grabbed the ginger's arm. "Wasn't that story wonderful?"

"YES!" the children unanimously agreed.

"I think it would be so much fun if Miss Avalon would come back and read to us another time?"

"YES!"

Avalon smiled at them and when she finally noticed that the Doctor was right in the back, her entire face softened. He gave her a wink that made her blush.

"You're horrible," River muttered to him.

"I didn't do anything!"

There was another snap of a picture, this time one that Avalon noticed. At her strange look, Rory awkwardly wiggled his fingers at her.

"That one's going in the album," he declared once Avalon's attention had drifted away.

"We don't have an album," Amy reminded him.

"We're going to start an album."

Amy rolled her eyes at her husband.

When Mrs. Kepner finally let Avalon go, the ginger tried making her way to her friends and family but she found herself bombarded with children _and_ their parents.

Questions like ' _Where did you get inspiration from?'_ and ' _Have you written anything else?'_ were suddenly things she needed to answer on the spot. For someone who'd never read her work publicly, the entire situation was overwhelming. And yet, when she started answering each question, she did it smoothly. To anyone else, she gave the feeling that she knew what she was doing.

Time had flown by after answering so many questions and when the last parent walked away, Avalon scurried towards _her_ group. As if reading her mind, the Doctor stepped forwards and opened his arms. Avalon threw herself right into him for a hug. She laughed as he spun her around.

"You came!" she exclaimed.

"Well of course I did!" he set her down on her feet, keeping his arms around her waist, but after a few spins they both swayed forwards. "I wouldn't miss your first public reading for the end of the world!"

Amy cleared her throat and gestured to herself, Rory and River. "Hello?"

The Doctor instantly let Avalon go at the reminder that the entire Ponds were there. _Bad Doctor, you shouldn't have hugged her like that._ But looking at Avalon made him realize he couldn't and wouldn't help it. She was ecstatic.

"Mother! I loved your story!" A little boy with dark brown hair and matching eyes tugged on Avalon's sleeve. Avalon was pretty confused with the boy since she'd never seen him in her life.

"Ava, it's the Sapling," the Doctor told her once she had looked the boy over twice. "I gave him a little present so he could come to Leadworth without causing suspicion."

"You turned him into a real boy!?"

"I'm like Pinocchio!" the Sapling threw his arms into the air. He looked like a perfect ordinary boy with rosy cheeks and a warm supply of blood.

"Just a perception filter. Thought of the same one Rosanna from Saturnyne used in Venice," the Doctor explained. "Now our dear Sapling can come to Leadworth like nothing."

"And I heard your story like all the other kids! I loved it!" the Sapling threw his real-boy arms around Avalon's waist.

"I'm glad you did," Avalon tightly hugged him. "I'm glad everyone is here." She looked over to Amy and Rory and when the Sapling let her go, she moved to hug them next.

"We weren't missing this," Amy chuckled.

Rory snapped another picture of Avalon, this time blinding her with his flash.

"Rory!" Amy groaned.

"What!?" Didn't anyone understand that he was a proud grandfather!?

Well, maybe one person did.

"You were absolutely wonderful, Avalon," River said from her spot. She was trained enough to know that she couldn't always make a move like a mother. Each time still hurt like mad but there was nothing to do, unless...

Avalon came over with another laugh. "River, you're here too." She hugged River like she would any other friend. That still hurt but it was way better than not being able to hug her at all.

"I wasn't missing this, believe me," River said and, without realizing it, she fixed some of Avalon's wayward curls. Avalon wouldn't take it as anything besides casual.

"How did you guys even know?" Avalon looked at the Ponds and the Doctor.

"That was me!" Lena happily raised her hand. "I called my big brother to let him know."

"And you invited me," River said and just as Avalon became puzzled, she added, "A future version of you does it. The next time _you_ see me."

"Got it!" Avalon chuckled.

"Avalon, we are all so proud of you," Ryland said and before he knew, she was hugging him next.

Avalon's smile saddened a bit when she looked up at him. "Do you think my Dad would be too?"

"I know so! He would be _so_ proud of you right now."

Avalon was so content to hear that. She hugged Ryland again.

"Hey, we want a hugs too!" Lena exclaimed as she gestured at herself then Gavin.

"Debatable," Gavin said and received a smack upside the head from Lena. "I mean yes we do want hugs."

Avalon rolled her eyes at him. "Just for that, I'm hugging you really tight."

Gavin dramatically groaned when she wrapped her arms around him, but he whispered a quiet 'good job' assuming nobody would hear.

"Thanks Lena," Avalon hugged Lena extra tight. "Thanks for making me go see Mrs. Kepner."

"I just walked you there, but it was also my big brother who left the story there for you."

Avalon agreed and turned to the Doctor with a softened smile. "Yeah..." He had a similar face on and just as he took a step towards her, he stopped. He remembered that they weren't alone. Avalon sadly remembered the same.

Lena looked between them, soon realizing their desire to be alone. "Why don't we go back home for some lunch!?"

The Sapling immediately jumped on board. "Yes! I want more ice cream sandwiches!"

Lena laughed as he grabbed her hand. "Alright then, let's go!"

Avalon would be eternally grateful for having Lena as a _sister._ Lena was her _sister_. She couldn't see Lena as anything else but that.

"Ava-" the Doctor started for her but she excitedly rushed up to him, throwing her arms around him and kissing him. Her lips were glossed with a delightful strawberry flavor. He fell under her lips for a few minutes in which all he could think of was how much he'd missed her.

It'd been only a few days for him but they were the longest days of his life. It reminded him too much of when she'd been gone for months. He never wanted that again. The only reason he agreed to this outing was because it was Avalon's family. She needed some time with them...but now _he_ needed some time with her.

"Mm, I missed doing that," Avalon pulled away slowly. She licked her lips, about to go on about how she missed him when she realized something. "Did you... _lick_ my lipgloss off?"

"Umm..." the Doctor's eyes darted to the side. Avalon had the time of her life watching a stark red blush bloom over his face. "...no..."

She raised an eyebrow at him, not that he would notice since the swing set became extremely interesting to him suddenly. She leaned forwards for another kiss and promptly licked his lower lip. "Yup, there it is."

The Doctor stammered, more embarrassed than ever. "Well, I-I didn't-didn't m-mean to..."

Avalon laughed and leaned on him. "Full disclosure, if we weren't in public then I would let you lick my lips all you want." If his face was red before, Avalon didn't know what shade of red it was now. They'd have to invent a new name for it. "I would've thought that 900 years would make you so confident, Fairy Tale Man."

" _Yes_ , but not when there's little humans running about the place," he flapped an arm at the park.

Avalon smirked at him. There was a little tingle going down her spine knowing that _she_ made him feel like _that_.

"Miss Avalon! Miss Avalon!" the pair turned in time to see the little blonde, pig-tailed girl running up to them. "Could you read another story next week?"

Avalon was utterly dumbfounded with this little girl. "Did you really like my story that much?"

Aurora nodded her head. "Aha! Later today, I'm having a play date with Laurel, Caitlin and Alice and we're all going to play Emma!" She looked at the Doctor beside Avalon and scurried up to him. "Did you like the story too?"

"I thought it was wonderful," he agreed and glanced at Avalon. "Just like her."

Avalon felt her face warm up. "Alright, alright, you don't have to kiss a..." She bit her lip to stop herself from saying some _very_ inappropriate words in front of Aurora.

Luckily, the little girl didn't seem to notice. She was in her own 5 year old world! "My name's Aurora! Miss Avalon says my name's the same as her favorite fairy tale! Do you know Sleeping Beauty?"

" _Oh_ do I know her," the Doctor threw a smug glance at Avalon. It wasn't as if he'd brought her to meet the very voice actress of Sleeping Beauty, nor the fact that Avalon became the lost singer of a version of _Once Upon a_ _Dream_...oh wait, it did happen. "It _is_ Miss Avalon's favorite fairy tale." Avalon playfully rolled her eyes at him.

"Miss Avalon, will you read again next week?" Aurora asked again but much softer, making it pretty hard for Avalon to say no.

"Listen sweetheart, I don't really live here anymore so I won't be here next week."

Aurora's face fell in disappointment. "Aww...but I really like your stories."

Avalon's heart swelled all over again. She could hug Aurora for a lifetime. She bent down in front of Aurora with a whimsical smile. "Tell you what, though, I'll tell you one of my favorite silly fairy tales right now. Just for you."

Aurora's eyes widened. "Just for me?" she gasped.

"Aha, are you ready?"

Aurora nodded so fast that Avalon had to physically stop her head. "D-d-d-don't do that!" she looked back at the Doctor who couldn't be more amused. "Is this what kids are like?"

"More or less," he shrugged. "Now tell that story. I'm interested too."

Avalon suddenly wondered if she had two five year olds with her. "Alright, this one's called ' _The Straw, the Coal and the Bean.'_

_"O_ _nce upon a time_ , _there was an old woman who was going to cook herself a pot of beans over a fireplace. As she shook the pan, one tiny little bean-"_ Avalon put her index finger over her thumb just to show how small the bean was, "- _fell_ _out of the pan!"_

Aurora gasped, her eyes flickering to the Doctor. Just to play along, he gasped with her too. "What happened?"

Avalon chuckled. " _The little bean was alright. He found one piece of hay straw on the floor. And then a piece of coal burst from the fireplace too! All three of them became friends quickly and they decided to escape from the old woman's home."_

"But where are they going to go? And how are they going to walk?" Aurora cocked her head to the side.

"They have legs!" Avalon moved her two fingers along as if they were walking legs.

"What?" Aurora giggled, shaking her head. Her blonde pigtails bounced against her cheeks with each shake. "That's silly!"

" _Well_ , _the bean, the coal and the straw all headed out. They came upon a little stream that they had to cross, but there was no bridge. The Straw came up with a plan to lay himself over the stream like a little bridge that his friends could cross over with. When the Coal started to tiptoe over the Straw's body, he had to be very careful for he was still burning hot from the fireplace."_

"Cos a coal is very hot!" Aurora stated, making Avalon agree with a hum.

" _The Coal tried to hurry across but he became frightened of the running water and he stayed right where he was. And because the Coal was so hot, the Straw started to catch fire until it broke and the two dropped into the stream."_

"Oh no!" Aurora gasped, flinging a hand to her mouth.

" _Since the Bean had stayed on the other side of the stream, he saw everything! He started to laugh at them."_

Aurora dropped her hand to her side, her face scrunching with confusion. "That's not very nice."

"Mhm," Avalon agreed. " _He laughed so much, so hard, that his little bean body went **pop**!" _she popped the 'p' and tapped Aurora's head _._

The Doctor smiled fondly at her from behind. He would grow to love this side of her, he was. _Oh._ That was a new idea.

_"Now, the Bean was very lucky that there had been a fisherman nearby who'd watched everything. The fisherman took out a needle and thread to sew the Bean back together. The Bean was so thankful with the fisherman. And, since the fisherman had used **black** thread, that's why there's a little black seam on beans._ Have you ever noticed?"

Aurora's eyes widened when she realized Avalon was right. "The little black line of the beans?"

"Yes. That's why the beans we eat today have black seams, because of this fisherman."

"I love that story!" Aurora laughed and threw her small arms around Avalon's neck. "Thank you, Miss Avalon!"

"Oh..." Avalon awkwardly remained in place for a few seconds. There was an odd feeling rushing through her body, but it was rather familiar. It took her a few minutes to understand _why_. A soft smile spread across her face when she hugged Aurora back. "You're welcome, Aurora."

"Aurora?" the same woman that had yelled for Aurora to scoot back earlier was now coming towards the trio. "Aurora, you have _got_ to stop running off on me!"

Aurora giggled as she parted from Avalon and ran to her mother. "Miss Avalon just told me another fairytale! Just for me!"

Avalon straightened on her feet and scooted so she was next to the Doctor. Leadworth parents still made her nervous. The Doctor knew it too so he wrapped an arm around her waist.

But Aurora's mother seemed cheerful with her daughter on her hip. "That was nice of her. Thank you."

Avalon met the woman's eyes with a blush. "It was nothing."

"You have a talent, you know? Have you ever considered becoming an author?"

"Umm..." Avalon knew it was a lie to say no, but she had never thought of _acting_ on it. Things in her life had always been focused on Lena's health and then came the Doctor with all the running and the world exploding and then the Silence...

"If you ever become an author, I think it's safe to say you've got yourself a fan right here," Aurora's mother nodded at the little girl who was grinning from ear to ear.

"Bye!" she wiggled her fingers at the pair.

"Bye Aurora," Avalon said kindly and waved the girl goodbye. "Okay," Avalon nodded once it was just her and the Doctor again, "Today is literally my favorite day ever!"

The Doctor chuckled. "I would assume it is."

Avalon turned made to spin but only turned quicker than normal and leaned on him. "Thanks for leaving that note for me. It meant a lot."

"I'm glad that you decided to listen to me this time. I have never read your work but if it's anything like this story...then I know that they're all amazing." He caressed the side of her face just before he planted a kiss on her lips.

"This story's kind of special, honestly," Avalon admitted with a sad smile the Doctor wasn't sure to be worried about. Everything was good right now, she shouldn't be smiling sadly! "I named the girl Emma after my Mum, Emmalina. I thought when I first read the story that if I actually went through with that and I showed my work, then I should make this character special. Even the story is kind of styled after my life with her. Sometimes I would argue with her and I would run out of the house but eventually I would find my way back to her. I wish I could still do that right now."

The Doctor gently stroked her beautiful curls until his hands found hers. "Well, even if you can't see Emmalina anymore, you know that she's still looking after you." Avalon smiled nostalgically. "And...you never know, one day you might find someone that'll treat you like Emmalina did."

Avalon playfully rolled her eyes. "Right."

The Doctor wished with all his hearts that he could tell her about River. The mere fact River had come by to see Avalon do her first reading spoke volumes of her love for Avalon. Everything that she'd done for Avalon was going unnoticed and who knew what other things River had done that they never noticed.

"C'mon, I think I deserve some lunch with my friends, my family...and my boyfriend," Avalon found her usual smirk as she grabbed his hand.

"Well..." the Doctor made a face at the human label and because he didn't explain himself in time, Avalon assumed the worst.

"Oh, I'm sorry, is that _not_ what you are?" she was about to pull her hand out of his but the Doctor caught on fast and gripped it tightly.

"Ava, you know are but I feel like it's an inaccurate description - it doesn't cover what we have. I know that our relationship just started but the feelings we have started a _long_ time ago. It's not childish, it's serious. Calling us ' _boyfriend and girlfriend_ ' makes it sound like we're teenagers or something. Please tell me that I'm explaining it well and you're not going to smack me?" Half of his face scrunched as he anxiously waited for Avalon's response.

Avalon leaned forwards and kissed his scrunched cheek. "You're just making my day even _better_."

The Doctor visibly relaxed and fast too. If she wasn't angry then he would expect that he'd scared her off or something, but no. She was smiling from ear to ear at him. "Well...good. I'm...I'm glad we got that clear."

"Mhm," Avalon nodded and started walking them towards the street, gently swinging their interlocked hands between them. "I guess I'll just leave you to think about a better label for us, then. You've been around for a while, think of a name better for us."

"I gladly accept that challenge," the Doctor declared, making her chuckle. He would definitely come up with a label that was _far_ better than 'boyfriend and girlfriend'. He'd just need some time.

From a distance, a creature resembling the Silence watched the pair walk off. He was hidden, no one would see him, and if they did no one would remember him when they looked away. That was, after all, his biggest problem. No one could remember the Scream, not even his own kind. Even now, his victims couldn't even remember that he was hunting them down, them and that Sapling child of theirs. "The tiiiiime will cooooome," he vowed.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Lots of things going on in this chapter, from that beginning to end. **Spoilers** Dad!Oliver Reynolds will make an appearance in this story, in what way...I shall not say :). But it was so sad to write those bits for Avalon because...yah know...he's dead. But on the plus side, Lena now knows about her sister and the Doctor. She was such a tease (But I'm here for evil Lena!). And let's just pretend like Avalon could write a a much better fairy tale than what I gave her, alright? And let's not even talk about the title *tee hee yall see what I did with it? I do love the fact I was able to write in that silly fairy tale with the bean, straw and cole. I have the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale collection and when I read that one I knew Avalon would love it too. And that ending, hmmm...did they really forget something else?

And just so everyone knows, the next chapter is one of my favorites in this story (there's about 2 more that might rank a little higher), but it's so much fun. Hope you guys like it when I post it next! :)

**P. S:** As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is " **noble-crescent** " and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	19. The Heist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Avalon is well done with her lockdown in the TARDIS, she manages to rope in the traveling gang for an old fashion heist!

"NO! I SAID NO! STOP IT!"

The Doctor burst into Avalon's room just as she woke up from her nightmare. Avalon sat upright with a jolt and cried without actual tears. It was more fear than actual tears she felt.

The Doctor rushed forwards and climbed on the bed. "Ava! You're awake now! It's okay!" Her breathing was jagged but once she saw him she realized he was right. She was in her room. She was safe in her room and not with Kovarian.

"There we are..." the Doctor gently pushed some hair out of her face. Her hair was a bit damp from the sweat that'd collected during her nightmare. "Safe and sound, okay?"

Once Avalon was fully awake she let out a frustrated groan and angrily kicked the sheets off her. "Not again! Dammit!"

The Doctor would've liked to stop her but why bother? There wasn't a lot to do to release that frustration so if she wanted to throw off the covers, she could. He only helped take the covers off in the when she started to tear up because they got tangled around her left ankle.

"I can't do anything right!" She buried her face into her hands.

"Ava, c'mon," the Doctor gently pried her hands off her skin and kept them both in his own hands. "What was it this time?"

Avalon groaned. "Kovarian had me again. But like... I think this was a new room. I can't really remember it that well. It was like a...a library of some sort? She was there...and the Silence...and more people but I can't remember them. I just know that I was pretty scared and sad."

"It's okay," the Doctor scooted closer to hug her. "If the memories come back then okay but we don't have to force them either."

Avalon remembered only fragments of her time with Kovarian and they mostly showed up in nightmares, like tonight. The Doctor made himself readily available when it so happened that Avalon chose to sleep. Every once in a while she would wake up screaming because she thought she was back with Kovarian. The sight of her in that state broke the Doctor's hearts. How he wished he could take it all away but it was clear that even a memory wipe _wasn't_ enough to make the horrible memories disappear. Kovarian no doubt made it a thorough memory wipe but even then Avalon's unique brain didn't take it.

"Can you stay with me please?" Avalon whispered the question so frailly that the Doctor almost missed it.

"Of course," the Doctor smiled against her hair. It wouldn't be the first time he stayed with her after a nightmare until she fell asleep again.

"But like...like _stay_ with me?" She raised her head off his chest and showed him her best sad eyes. "Until I wake up?"

"Oh I know it must be boring but...you're the one who saves me in my dreams. I'd feel a lot better if you were right next to me in real life too."

"I can't argue with your logic," the Doctor said. Avalon rolled her eyes at his smugness. "For my Ava, I'll do anything to make her feel better."

"Never has there been a truer statement said," Avalon sighed contently. "You do everything you can for me."

"I don't know about that..." the Doctor mumbled. He did _try_ but it didn't mean he was successful at it.

"I do," Avalon watched him kick his shoes off. She had a strict rule about her perfectly white sparkly duvet covers not being soiled with dirt. It took only one lecture for that lesson to stick. "You're my Fairy Tale Man. You always save me."

"I try-"

"You _do_ ," she insisted. She reached to undo his bowtie, thinking it'd be too uncomfortable to lie down with.

The Doctor watched her easily maneuver the strings. She'd taken custom of undoing his bowtie every once in a while and he learned fast that he loved the feeling of her soft fingers touching his skin. Sometimes it wasn't even the bowtie she was aiming for, she just liked touching him. It was something intimate but not sexual, more gentle and...loving?

"There we are," Avalon handed him the the bowtie. "Wanna keep that in your pockets, right? Bigger on the inside?" God forbid one of those ever got lost. He'd go crazy for sure.

"You should sleep, c'mon," the Doctor scooted slightly so they could both lay down.

Avalon immediately scooted her body the amount the Doctor had pulled away. "I'm not sure I can sleep now."

"You're making me stay still, you're _going_ to sleep."

Avalon laughed. "Fair enough." She snuggled up to him and practically pulled his arm over her waist. "That's better. Now I know for sure that I won't have another nightmare, not when my Fairy Tale Man is holding me."

"The trust you have in me is beyond me," the Doctor admitted with genuine guilt lacing his words.

"Oh shush. You have got to stop blaming yourself for everything bad that happens to people around you. That's what gives Kovarian fuel to her cause."

"How do you mean?"

Avalon sighed and tilted her head up at him. She'd been wondering when it would be the right time to tell him the fact that she knew about his previous companions and all the battles he'd been a part of; that Kovarian had forced her to learn everything. _Maybe now is as good a time as ever_...

The Doctor could see the struggle in her eyes and assumed it was yet another thing Kovarian caused. "Ava? You can tell me."

"...I'm afraid of how you'll react."

A ripple of anger flourished through the Doctor's body as he thought of what Kovarian told Avalon to make her fear telling _him_ something. Despite his moral code, he was sure that if he ever saw that woman again...he'd kill her. And yet, as he passed a hand over Avalon's hair he did it so gently that Avalon could never guess the dark thoughts that were running through his mind right now. "You can tell me anything, Ava. You can always tell me anything." Avalon closed her eyes when she felt his lips press against her temple.

"I...I know about things...from your past..." she had spoken so quietly she wondered if he managed to hear her words. When he didn't respond, she tilted her head up again. He was still but there was a clear fear etched across his face. Now _he_ was afraid.

"What-what kind of things?" his voice had fallen to a similar volume as Avalon's whisper.

"Kovarian made me learn about some of your previous, most recent, battles from your past. She thought that it would help brainwash me if she taught me the ' _truth'_ about you."

"Oh..." the Doctor couldn't find a place to glue to his gaze to. His hearts were beginning to hammer under his chest just thinking what Avalon knew. _This wouldn't be happening if you'd had the courage to tell her yourself,_ he snapped at himself.

He'd been focused on the happy, kissing times and actively ignoring the darkness that followed him. He was foolish to think that he could keep the blissful bubble around them forever. Sooner or later, Avalon would learn his past.

Avalon's hand slid from his chest up to his cheek. She could only guess what was going on in that big head of his. That's what Kovarian wanted. She wanted him to be guilty and ashamed because when he did feel those things, he would either let himself be killed or do the job for them.

"I understand it wasn't your fault," she assured him.

"What do you know?" the Doctor found his courage but he wasn't sure if he could hold onto it as she answered.

"I know about the Reality Bomb the Daleks built and how the walls of the universe were breaking down. One of your old companions, Rose Tyler, inadvertently helped break the walls when she was trying to get back to you. I know that the Daleks made you see how changed your companions were because of you." Avalon watched his face sink as she told him everything about the Crucible. She hated the way he couldn't look at her out of shame.

"I had to do it..." he weakly argued when Avalon reached to the point of Donna Noble's memory wipe. He swallowed hard just remembering the way Donna had cried and begged him not to take her memories. "I ruined her life...like I ruined everyone else's."

"You didn't ruin them, you changed their lives," Avalon flinched at his hard scoff. He pulled his arms from her body and moved away from her. She immediately missed his warmth but even as she tried to reach for his arm, he made himself scoot to the edge of the bed.

"Tell me what else you know," he instructed her, his voice cool yet she didn't miss the sharpness in it. There was no choice of keeping everything back.

With a sigh, Avalon went back to talk about the year that never was. As soon as she mentioned the Master, the Doctor's entire body flinched. His horrified expression told her she should've _never_ learned about him. It made it all the more difficult to keep going. "I know about the...the Toclafane? I think that's what they were called. A lot of people died but I also know that it never happened. No one died." She then switched gears to the Battle of Canary Wharf. "I-I remember that the Cybermen...the robots...they were everywhere. And the Daleks. Kovarian showed me the pictures of the aftermath. That's how I remembered it better. So many people died..."

"And I was at the middle of it," the Doctor muttered. "I was the reason. I couldn't save everyone. Kovarian was right. I got up and left afterwards."

Avalon pursed her lips together. "You didn't do it on purpose. It's what happened when you crashed into Amy's garden."

"Avalon I _know_ who I am. I know that I do change people. I mean, I changed Rose so much that she accidentally helped Daleks because she wanted to cross worlds. I did that on _accident_. Imagine the times where I've legitimately manipulated people to change."

Avalon lowered her gaze. She couldn't take his eyes the way they were, all dark and full of hatred for himself. "This is what Kovarian wants, you know. She wants you to hate yourself-"

"Oh she's a bit late at that, love. I hated myself long before she came about. Is this what she showed you, then? She wanted you to hate me as much as I hate myself."

"But I don't hate you," Avalon once again tried touching him but he got up from the bed altogether.

"Avalon, I would appreciate if you were honest here."

"I _am_ being honest-"

"Avalon!" he snapped, startling her. Her blue eyes widened and blinked fast. "Sorry," he apologized. The last thing she deserved was to be yelled at. _She_ should be yelling at _him_. "It's important to me, okay? Did learning these things make you think differently about me?"

Avalon swallowed hard. "If you want the truth? Yes...I was a little scared." She felt a twinge of guilt in her stomach when she saw the look of horror on the Doctor's face. "But you _know_ that I'm not afraid of you. Would I be here if I was afraid? No. Right? It was a natural response given everything Kovarian showed me. I saw people _dead_ but I never _once_ blamed _you_. I am simply _aware_ of the reality that you unfortunately have been in. I am _so_ sorry you've endured all that. Nobody should ever have to."

"Kovarian showed you all that - a minuscule part of my horrors by the way - so you would join them, because she knows how dangerous I am. But that's not everything, why talk about my friends from the past? No," the Doctor almost stormed to Avalon's side. " _Why?_ What could she want from that?"

"Oh Doctor, it's not relevant." Avalon turned her head away too fast for him to believe that was true.

"You look like it bothered you, or scared you. " He brought her gaze back with a finger under her chin. "What else happened, Avalon?"

The Doctor's eyes begged her to answer, for him. He needed to know how much they told her about him, how badly she would be scared of him. Avalon couldn't take it.

"She said you would leave me behind like you did with the others," she whispered. "You would change me, like you changed the others, and that you would leave me, Amy and Rory behind. We'd become more names to your list."

"Oh Ava..." the Doctor's eyes softened, his hands cupping her face, "I wouldn't...I _couldn't_! Not you!"

Avalon leaned into his touch. "She was so hellbent on making me change my mind about you, but I can't. I know what surrounds you, I know that sometimes people do change around you but they change because of everything they've seen. How could I not change when you've shown me different worlds? How could I not change after everything?"

"You shouldn't have to change, that was Kovarian's point," the Doctor moved to sit on the edge of the bed with Avalon. "Nobody should have to die because of me. If I wasn't around, how many people would be alive right now?"

Avalon held onto one of his hands before he could pull them both away from her face. "How many people would be dead if you hadn't helped them? Or...how many people wouldn't _exist_ because of you?"

The Doctor couldn't help smile at that last bit. "Well...maybe it's not all that bad. I got you after everything. I got my Ava."

"And I want to be here for a very long time," she promised him. "I know the truth, Doctor, but it's not the distorted one you and Kovarian have. Believe _me_." She moved herself so she could hug him.

_I wish I could_ , the Doctor silently thought. He held Avalon for as long as she wanted, but there was still a part of him that wondered if she wasn't just a little bit afraid of him after seeing the mass chaos he'd caused in the past.

~0~

"I'm _bored_! I am _so_ bored!" Avalon dramatically walked around the console room, stopping between Amy and Rory. "Please, can we go out?" She threw her head back, squeezing her eyes shut. "Please?"

The couple shared the same irritated faces and even answered at the same time, " _No_!"

Avalon groaned and walked away from them. "But I'm bored! It's been weeks without going out! I'ts not fair! I got dressed and everything!" And she was pretty sure that she looked damn good for a day out. She'd rummaged through her closet and found a white wrap top with three-quarter puffy sleeves that she adored. She paired with light blue jeans and a pair of brown ankle-length boots.

"Jeez, you're worse than the Sapling and he's a _child_ ," Amy made sure to remind loud and clear so that Avalon would drop her games.

"Oh c'mon!" Avalon stomped her foot, making it clear that she would _not_ be desisting anytime soon. "It's been _months_ since I got back and I'm pretty sure my health is back to normal!"

"It'll never be normal again," Rory frowned but Avalon shushed him.

"If you're not on my side, don't help! C'mon guys!"

"Why are you even bothering _us_ about this?" Amy threw her hands in the air and turned away. She loved Avalon, she did, but sometimes she got on her nerves. Right now was one of those times. "We're not the ones in charge of the TARDIS!"

"Course not, _I_ am," the Doctor came in with the Sapling. "Why are we discussing who's in charge?"

"Doctor, I'm bored!" Avalon exclaimed. "Can we please go out?"

"Oh, I'd love to go out," the Sapling closed the book he was holding and excitedly turned to the Doctor. "Can we?"

"Avalon, why do you do that?" the Doctor sighed with annoyance. "You know hearing you say that makes him want to go out too."

"Really? Didn't know that..." Avalon failed to hide her knowing smile. This wasn't the first time she was asking to go out so she'd began to think of some tricks. "C'mon, it's been weeks since we went to Leadworth. I'm okay now!"

"Because you've been under constant watch," the Doctor reminded her. He was truthfully afraid of taking her out somewhere not sterilized. She was correct about her health - she'd been okay lately and her health was almost that of a regular human's - but it still didn't make the Doctor any less nervous. "I don't think it's a good idea." Needless to say, Avalon wasn't happy with his words. A deep scowl marked her face while he played casual and took the Sapling's book. "Here, why don't you read it? Seems like your kind of thing anyways." He held the book at her for a second before she snatched it from his hands.

" _History of Jewels?_ " she read the title with an unimpressed look. "Seriously? You want me to read this?"

"I learned a lot from it!" the Sapling exclaimed happily. "I like the Fire stone best! What was its proper name, Father?"

"The Ignis Jewel," the Doctor tapped the top of the Sapling's head, making the tree child giggle. "It's actually quite impressive! You should read about it!" He told Avalon who responded with a groan.

"You're bored too," she watched him carefully avoid looking at her when he crossed the room to come up to the console. Ever since she told him that she knew about some of his past, he'd been so weird with her. She should've seen it coming though. As if the Doctor could ever let it all just go. The only thing Avalon hadn't worked out yet was _how_ to get him to move on from it. And he certainly wasn't helping when he kept pissing her off.

"Doesn't matter what I think," the Doctor said from his newest spot _away_ from her.

"Aha!" Avalon whirled around with a finger pointed at the Doctor. "So you _are_ bored!"

"He just said it doesn't matter, Avalon," Rory said before the Doctor could answer. He moved around the ginger and tapped the cover of the book she was holding. "Why don't you go read instead? You love doing it anyways."

Avalon rolled her eyes. "You guys are so mean!" She stomped her way out of the room, leaving the group to hear her stomps getting father and farther.

"Sapling, why don't you go make sure she reads the book?" the Doctor asked, thinking that if the Sapling was around Avalon she would hopefully simmer down.

"Okay!" the Sapling turned and ran after his Mother.

"She is _so_ bored," Amy shook her head.

"I hadn't noticed," the Doctor sarcastically said.

"Would it be so bad if we just went out for a little bit?" As soon as Amy asked the question, she had her husband on her.

"It's too dangerous! She's not ready for that!" Rory was almost shouting so Amy planted a hand over his mouth.

"Do you want Avalon to come back!?"

Rory pushed her hand off his mouth and continued on but with a much quieter voice. "She's not ready to go out."

"Yeah, but she makes a point. How do we know when she's ready if we never let her go out?" Amy folded her arms and waited for somebody to give her the answer. She smirked at the silence that followed. "Exactly. Doctor, she did stay in Leadworth for a few days and nothing happened. How come we can't try something else just for a little bit?"

"Because what if it goes wrong?" the Doctor didn't hesitate to respond with. Unfortunately, he forgot he was dealing with Amy Pond.

"What if nothing happens?" she counted and walked up to him. "Look Doctor, I get that we're all worried about Avalon's new health situation but we can't actually keep her locked away forever. She likes Rapunzel but she _will_ hurt us all if she stays here another day!" Amy looked between the Doctor and Rory while she waited for either of them to make a comeback. Of course, none of them did. "So, where should we go?"

~ 0 ~

Avalon was quietly reading through the _History of Jewels_ with the Sapling next to her. Since he had already read the book with the Doctor, he was giving Avalon the most important pages he thought she would like. The Doctor had been right: the Sapling's presence did semi-simmer Avalon's anger.

Neither of them noticed the others walking into the media room until the Doctor cleared his throat. He was leading Amy and Rory in and came to a stop beside Avalon's side of the couch. "Ava...?"

"Hmm," she hummed and pretended to keep reading.

"Right, well, we've been talking about it and...maybe you're right. You should have the opportunity to start travelling again." The Doctor didn't want to say that he was expecting Avalon to jump from the couch with excitement but...he did expect it. So when Avalon merely turned the page of her book, he became worried that her anger had worsened.

"Avalon, didn't you hear?" Rory called. "We're going to take you out like you wanted."

Avalon exchanged a secret glance with the Sapling. Both of them smirked.

"Avalon?" Amy asked.

"I have to thank you, Doctor, for making me read this thing," Avalon began to turn the pages of her book. "And the Sapling showed me his favorite jewel, the Ignis Jewel?" She got up from the couch and held the open book for them all to see. "Interesting thing about it is how it was stolen from a civilization and then placed in some elegant museum for other aliens to see."

"Yeah, so?" the Doctor tried taking the book from her but she slammed it shut, nearly getting his fingers had he not flinched away in time. Soon as he saw her mischievous grin, he dreaded what was to come.

"I know what I want to do today! I want to _heist_!"

"You want to what!?" Both Amy and Rory simultaneously yelled.

Avalon laughed and turned away, swaying with her book to her chest. "Doesn't it sound like fun!? A _heist_!"

"Yes! Yes!" the Sapling clapped on the couch. "I want to heist too!"

"No, no, there will be no heisting of any kind!" the Doctor wagged a finger at her that she did not see. "Why would you get an idea like that!?"

"Because of your stupid lockdown!" Avalon turned around, her grin momentarily replaced with an angry scowl. "Do you know how many TV series I've binge-watched in these past months?"

"Well..."

"FIFTY!"

"Okay, fifty..." the Doctor made a face and mouthed the number at Amy and Rory. They both nodded their heads in confirmation, making him do another face. Alright, that could drive him crazy too. _It would_ , the voice in his head declared.

"The TARDIS was kind enough to give me series that haven't come out yet on Earth and it showed me one called Brooklyn-99! And guess what they do every year?" Avalon didn't wait for any of them to guess, she blurted the answer out in pure excitement. "They heist! They literally heist and that's what we're going to do today!"

"Avalon Harmony Reynolds you cannot be serious," Amy sternly looked at her granddaughter, wanting both to laugh and shake the girl.

But Avalon was so excited that she didn't even bat an eye at the fact Amy used her middle name that she hated. "I am _so_ serious! Here!" she chucked the book at the trio, making them all scramble to catch it before it hit them. "Check it out!" she told them once Rory held the book between Amy and the Doctor. "It says the Ignis Jewel was stolen from a primitive civilization that would use the jewel to start fires. The jewel ensures fire. If it stays on the ground longer than a minute, it'll start a fire."

"Isn't it cool!?" the Sapling got on his knees on the couch, scooting himself to the armrest next to Avalon.

"Yes, but what's not cool is how these museum chains took it just so other people can come and _look_ at it! It's literally sitting on a pedestal under glass!"

"Okay, okay, I get that it's been stolen but us stealing it back doesn't make us any better," the Doctor said, though there was a glint in his eyes that Avalon saw. He was _so_ interested, he wouldn't be able to deny it for much longer.

"Except when we take it back, we can return it to its proper place!" Avalon grinned. "We'd be like Robin Hood! And we can make a wager if that'll make things more interesting."

"We're not doing this," Rory closed the book but he was mighty surprised when he heard Amy go " _Weeeelll..."_ His head snapped in her direction. "Amy!"

"I don't know, knowing that it's already been stolen and we'd just be taking it back..." Amy shrugged her shoulders and mumbled, very lowly, her next words, "...sounds kinda fun..."

" _Amy_!"

"Yay!" Avalon clapped her hands. "Amy's on my team!"

"What - no! There'll be no teams because there'll be no heist! Doctor!" Rory whacked the Time Lord's arm to get his support. "Tell her!" Silence. Rory blinked and turned to the Doctor. "Doctor? Tell her!"

The Doctor cocked his head to the side, one eye squeezing shut. "I'm thinking..."

"What!? There's no thinking!"

"I'm looking at the possible consequences-"

"DOCTOR!"

"He's in!" Avalon waved the two men off and high-fived with the Sapling. "I told you we could do it!"

Rory slapped a hand over his face. "I can't believe this is seriously happening."

"Better believe it Rory Williams!" Avalon laughed so joyfully that for a moment, the trio forgot about their concerns for this crazy idea. Avalon hopped on the couch with the Sapling and together they clapped. "We are _heisting_!"

"Stomp jumping on the couch," Amy scolded them before they fell. The pair immediately let themselves fall on the couch into a sitting position.

Avalon flipped her head in their direction, her smirk back on her face. "So then, let's get the teams together."

~ 0 ~

"Knock-knock!" Avalon tapped a knuckle against River's cell, startling the brunette for a second. "Hi River!"

"What are you doing here?" River got up from her bed and hurried up to the gate. "You're not sneaking out again are you?"

"Oh great so the last version I met isn't that far from this you?"

"Somewhat, that was a month ago for me. Where are you right now?"

"Um, well, sort of getting back on my feet. Oh! I did have my first reading in Leadworth - have you gone to that?"

"No..." River eyed her strangely which only confirmed her answer.

"Oh, well, you're invited to my first public reading in Leadworth, October 21st, 2011 at 11:00 AM."

"Duly noted," River hurried back to her bed to jot the date down in her journal. She wouldn't miss that for anything! Her daughter's first public reading? Her heart swelled with pride just thinking about it. "So, what are you doing right now then?"

" _Welll_..." Avalon swayed her head, missing the way River smirked at her.

"What are you up to, young lady?" These were rare moments where River could sneak in a little bit of motherhood on Avalon without her suspecting.

"We are heisting today!"

Bemused, River stopped writing in her journal. "You're _what_?"

"We're heisting! And I want you to be on my team!"

River had to laugh. She finished writing the date down in her journal then came back to the cell bars. "Avalon Harmony Reynolds, what are you doing?"

"There's this thing called the Ignis Jewel that's been stolen and placed in a museum so I thought we should pull a heist and steal it back! We'll give it back to its rightful owners!"

"Why on Earth would you want to do something like that?"

"...because I'm bored," Avalon answered with a straight face, only making River laugh again. "I've been locked away for months now with only Leadworth. I was promised stars and planets and I am ready to come back!"

"And the Doctor actually agreed to this?" River asked fully knowing that the man would agree to anything that Avalon asked to.

"Course he did," Avalon shrugged. "He's bored too. So what do you say? Want help me steal something and make sure the Doctor loses?"

The same smirk that'd been on Avalon's face earlier was now on River's. "Always."

~ 0 ~

"Alright," the Doctor announced as he unrolled the schematics of the museum they would shortly arrive at. He pressed the paper against a large table in the TARDIS library for them all to see. "So the Bijou Museum is three-story building with roughly about 10 rooms on each floor. What we're looking for is on the third floor right there!" His finger tapped the small square nearing the middle from their right side. "Each room has their own security feed but, as per rules, I will disable them upon our arrival. Can't have us getting caught before we even steal the damn thing."

"Right, because that would be _wrong_ ," Rory said with a sigh of irritation. No one had listened to him about how ridiculous this whole thing was. He should've known that his daughter would of course agree with the entire stunt. River was just as excited as Avalon! _Shocker_.

"Oh shush," Amy bumped his shoulder with more or less the same excitement as River and Avalon. "It might be fun. I've never stolen anything."

"To be clear," the Doctor cleared his throat and raised a finger in the air. "We are not stealing this, we are retrieving it for a civilization who deserves to get it back." As he finished his clarification, his eyes landed on the Sapling. He didn't want his tree child to get the wrong idea that stealing was okay if you were bored. "We are not stealing."

"Right, we're heisting," Avalon moved around the table so she was across from the Doctor. "Totally different."

"It's really not," Rory mumbled but yelped when Amy jabbed her elbow into his side.

"We're doing something good," the Sapling chimed in to help his parents. They were so excited and he was too!

"Oh father," River shook her head. "Lighten up. It'll be fun. So, the cameras will be off?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah. I'll just make it so the screens show the same thing on a loop."

"And nobody will notice that it's a loop?"

Avalon snorted. "Please. They're probably bored to death up in that security room. I bet they're so good at solitaire."

"These are alien security guards, Ava," Rory pointed out. "They don't even know solitaire."

"Actually," River swayed her head. "That's what most of the boys play at home."

"Please, don't help."

River smirked.

"Right then!" the Doctor said to keep things moving. "So we'll have about two hours to pull the heist before the cameras start showing the live feed again. In two hours, we _all_ need to be back in the TARDIS no matter what." His eyes reluctantly found Avalon's. For the life of him he just couldn't face her. Each time he did, he remembered that she knew more about him than he ever wanted her to. The shame and guilt were just inevitable. "Whether or not we have the Ignis Jewel, we all need to come back."

Avalon gave a firm nod. "I understand. Thanks for doing this though." This time the Doctor nodded slightly and quickly looked at someone else. The action hurt Avalon more than she would've thought.

River didn't miss it. She made a mental note to look into that later.

"Anything is fair game except for the TARDIS," the Doctor went on as he pulled up a second copy of the schematics from his inside pocket.

"And your sonic," Amy gave him a pointed look. She held her hand out for the infamous sonic. The Doctor reached into his jacket's pocket and pulled out his beloved sonic. "Thank you!" Amy placed it on the table where the TARDIS would take care it until they got back.

"Alright," Avalon clapped her hands together. "Final thing: the wager." Her eyebrows quirked with a smirk on her face. "If my team wins-"

"Which we will," River muttered to Amy who agreed with a hum.

"-then you have to let me and Amy choose where we will go for the next month. And we pick River up each time. No buts about it."

"Fine, but if you lose - which you will - then you have to stay inside the TARDIS for another month." The Doctor planted his hands on the table and leaned forwards, smirking so smugly like he already knew what the outcome of the heist would be. "No buts about it," he mimicked her tone.

Avalon's tongue pressed against her teeth before she finally clicked it. "Fine." She did the same as him and leaned forwards on the table. "But you can't use any sonic of any type! Not even a little sonic pen!"

"Don't have one..." the Doctor faltered for a moment as he realized he'd never actually made one, "Why haven't I thought about that yet? Never mind! No sonic, no TARDIS. However, I'm also going to need River to promise not to use any of her little weapons she has stored."

River opened her mouth to argue but promptly shut it and shrugged. "Yeah, alright. They're all in my cell anyways."

"How do you even get that past the guards?" Avalon genuinely asked with curiosity.

"I'll tell you later," River smirked until she noticed Amy's disapproving look. Her smirk fell and she cleared her throat. "Or maybe not. Probably not."

"So," the Doctor called, "Two hours. No sonics, no weapons, no TARDIS, and no hurting anyone! Me, Rory and the Sapling against Avalon, Amy and River. Any other question?"

"Yes," Avalon leaned just a bit closer over the table, leaving a questionable distance between her face and the Doctor's. "Are you ready to cater to my every desire after you lose?"

The Doctor would've liked to have answered with " _I always strive to_ " when he remembered there were other people in the room. He might have thought of kissing her too - her smirking lips were begging to be kissed - but other people and his own thoughts were forcing him back. Instead, he chose not to answer directly. He reeled away from the table - putting some distance would help him control himself - and turned to the others. "Let's head out, team!"

"Yes! Good luck Mother!" the Sapling scurried around the table to hug Avalon. The ginger, however, was a bit distracted with the Doctor's rash departure from the room but the Sapling tugged on her sleeve to claim her attention in the end. "Mother, good luck!"

Avalon smiled lightly at him. "Don't go getting yourself into trouble."

The Sapling giggled and rushed out of the room with Rory.

Avalon looked at her own team, choosing to focus on the task they had. "Well then ladies, let the heist begin."

~ 0 ~

Avalon, River and Amy decided to scope out the precise room where the Ignius Jewel was on display. The museum was functioning as it normally would, meaning the room was pretty crowded.

Amy noticed that the other displays of gemstones and the artworks against the walls each had their personal crowd of people. "I'm beginning to think that Rory has a point here."

"What do you mean?" Avalon distractedly asked while she and River studied the Ignius' display. It was a normal golden pedestal with a glass box over it. The jewel was tucked on a navy blue pillow. It was fairly easy...or so it appeared.

"There's loads of people!"

"Shhh, Mother," River put a finger over her lips, but Amy rolled her eyes. "Don't go all nervous on us."

"How are we supposed to get this out without getting caught?" Amy folded her arms and gave a nod towards the jewel.

"Well I have a few ideas," Avalon announced, earning two different reactions from the other two. Amy looked rather concerned that she'd already come up with a way to steal something in a crowded room but River seemed intrigued and perhaps a tad impressed that it only took her a few minutes to get ideas.

"Let's hear it," River gave Avalon the floor but made a gesture for the ginger to keep it down.

"Well," Avalon clasped her hands behind her back as she moved to the left side of the pedestal. "First option would be to lift it out of the glass assuming we could disable the alarm system."

"We'd need to get into the security room," River pointed out, not intending on shooting the idea down but only reminding Avalon they'd need to do that step first.

"What?" hissed Amy but neither her daughter nor her granddaughter paid her attention.

"Right. Shouldn't be that hard though, not if we use the right mode of entry," Avalon agreed with River and slowly moved to the other side of the pedestal. "If we're feeling adventurous-"

"Always," River nodded and shared a smirk with Avalon.

"-we could get some rope and climb down from up there," Avalon raised her head at the ceiling. The spot directly above the pedestal was an air vent. "We'd only need to clear out the room-"

"How would we do that!?" Amy once again hissed.

Avalon and River fixed the same stare on Amy. "Wait for lunch hour, duh."

If she could, Amy would have really liked to scold both of them for being so... _alike_. Without even trying, Avalon and River were too alike in situations like these and that honestly worried Amy for the future. What kind of trouble could these two get into when nobody was around?

"I checked the schedule," Avalon continued with River. "Lunch is in two hours which is just the time limit we have anyways. It'll be our last resort."

"I say we start the easiest way possible," River declared and before either woman could ask her what that way was, she reached inside her jacket's pocket to pull out a familiar tube of red lipstick.

"Oh I bloody love you!" Avalon laughed a bit too loud and got some looks from the other guests.

River's smirk widened. "Let's go ladies!"

~ 0 ~

"Excuse me?" the Doctor had come up to the reception desk on the first floor of the museum. A young brunette woman was working the desk when he arrived. "I was wondering what times are your scheduled tours for the, uh, third floor?"

"Well, you just missed one," the woman said as she stood up from her seat. "But you can catch the next one in twenty minutes. There's actually a pamphlet, hold on…"

"Take your time, take all the time you need…" the Doctor murmured as he watched Rory and the Sapling creep up to the opposite side of the desk.

"Here we are!" the woman exclaimed, raising her head up just as Rory was about to slip into her part of the desk.

"Oh! Why don't you show it to me!?" the Doctor quickly moved the woman to the very edge of the desk. He decided to pull her out of the desk so that they were standing on his side, hunched over the pamphlets. "I have a son, you see, and he's so adamant that we go through the best tours. Care to pinpoint those?"

Once the woman was thoroughly focused on the pamphlet, Rory tried slipping into the desk again. The Sapling remained just at the edge in case anybody happened to stop by, but he had to physically stop himself from giggling at the funny squatted-walking Rory was doing. He couldn't stand up to search the desk so he had to naturally walk with his legs squatting.

He was loving Heists!

Rory was quick to search for what they came for. His hands raked through the drawers until he reached the last one. It would be in that one that he found a ring of keys. He was careful to take them without jingling them and then bolted from the desk altogether. His hearts hammered until he reached the safety of a hallway.

A few minutes later, the Doctor and the Sapling joined him.

"I hate this!" Rory declared as he handed the ring of keys to the Doctor. "I just stole security keys! _Don't_ -" he pointed a warning finger at the Sapling, "-you ever do that, Sapling! Got it!? Don't do what I'm doing! What any of us are doing!"

The Sapling brought his hands to his mouth as he laughed. "I know, grandfather."

"Oh..." Rory nearly lost his balance when he realized just how truly bad this whole thing was. In the Sapling's mind, his mother, his father, his grandmother and his great grandparents were all teaching him how to pull a heist. "Oh, my stomach hurts. My stomach really hurts." Rory pressed a hand against the wall to lean against while his arm wrapped around his stomach.

"Loosen up, Rory!" the Doctor exclaimed as he scanned the hallway for any suspicious actions. So far, no one had seen a thing. "Now then, these keys will let us walk into any room we want."

"But the damn jewel isn't even in a room with a _door_! Why did we get the keys at all?" Rory asked once he felt air begin to come back to him.

"Because if we have them, then the girls don't! Do keep up, Rory!"

"Yeah!" the Sapling mimicked his Father's tone. "The girls won't be able to lock or open any rooms!"

Rory's face went flat as his eyes flickered between the Sapling and the Doctor. "Oh, you two are so-"

"That is beyond petty," River's voice pulled the trio's attention to the end of the hallway. "I'm impressed, Doctor." The Doctor quickly stuffed the ring of keys into his inside pocket. Avalon and Amy had come up on either side of River. "But it won't be enough to win this."

"I'm going back to the petty part - that was _really_ petty!" Avalon scrunched her face at the Doctor. "Fairy Tale Man, what the hell?"

The Doctor only slightly looked at her before turning away with Rory and the Sapling. "Off we go!" he ushered them off and ran behind them.

Avalon's face went grim for a moment, and even though it was just for one moment River still noticed it, then turned to the women. "So, lipstick, who are we using it on?"

"I _was_ going to use it on whoever was in charge of those keys. I thought the same as the Doctor," River admitted with a sheepish smile. "I know, don't tell me." Avalon chuckled.

"But he got the keys so now what?" asked Amy.

"We move onto the next phase of our plan of course!" River took the lead down the hallway. It was fairly easy maneuvering their way through without being suspected. Nobody suspected three simple women wanting to find the best art piece on that floor.

Eventually, they stopped in front of a less crowded hallway. They would be going into the security room to de-activate the alarms.

"Amy, ready?" River asked.

Amy fervently nodded. "Keep an eye out. Easy-peasy."

River then looked at Avalon. "Ready?" Avalon was more than excited to finally start. River almost laughed and blew their cover. "Right. One, two, three!" She flung the door open and immediately went up to the first of two men.

"Hey! What are you-"

River grabbed the man's collars and yanked him forwards for a kiss. Avalon went straight for the second man and punched him across the face. She quickly swiped the small stun gun from the man's waist.

"Oh, you know you can't keep that," River warned when Avalon turned around. "Part of the rules, remember?"

"This is to stun," Avalon said, chucking it to River. "And you can keep it for now. Is he going to be okay?"

River looked back at the man she'd 'kissed' and nodded her head. "Yeah. He thinks he's dreaming that he's tied up. Hilarious really. And this one," she moved past Avalon to the man she'd knocked out. She smudged her lipstick across the unconscious man's lips. "Should be doing the same when he comes to. Blimey what a hand you've got."

Avalon proudly smiled behind her. "Now we can get the alarms!"

"Yes! They should be pretty visible!"

Avalon turned to the control panel. Her eyes flickered to the dozens of screens playing the loop that the Doctor had preset before arriving. Everything was completely normal to these people. She and River focused on the mess of buttons and and wires sticking out.

"So while we're here, you want to tell me what's going on with you and the Doctor?" River worked swiftly to find the head of the alarms on the screens. So far, she only had the alarms for the first floor.

Avalon had paused working for a moment to throw River a look. "What? How do you know-" She didn't get to finish asking on account of River scoffing loudly. "It is so weird how you _do_ that!"

River laughed. She'd succeeded getting through the alarms for the second floor and now she just needed the third floor. "I always know about you, sweetie."

"Still," Avalon folded her arms over her chest. "So...so you know that he and I...?"

"Are in a relationship?" River only stopped to nod at her then went right back to work. "Of course I do. Can't hide that from me even if you tried."

"And...and you don't...you're okay with that?"

A flicker of confusion crossed River's face at the question. She stopped working again and turned her head in Avalon's way. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know cos...cos you're from the future. I mean, one time Amy even said if you were the Doctor's wife in the future."

"Hasn't said it to _this_ me yet," River said, prompting Avalon to realize the Byzantium hadn't yet happened to this River yet. "And I really hope she never says it to me. That's...that's just..." She shuddered a breath and made Avalon smile out of relief. "Besides, we've talked about this, remember? The reason I know things about him is because I've seen future versions of him, and you! All your future is my past! We're going in the wrong order, sweetie, so of course to _you_ it would look like I just know everything. But the truth is, I _don't_ know everything. _You_ tell me a lot of it, about you and the Doctor. Your future together." River loved watching her daughter's face light up with delight.

"You mean that?" Avalon clearly tried to dial down her happiness and relief but it was a hard thing to do.

"Of course I do! I honestly don't know how you stand that man for more than a few hours! I s _alute_ you Avalon, because it can't be easy!"

Avalon laughed for a short moment before a lamenting sigh came through. "Too bad right now we're in a funk. He's upset because I told him that I know about his past, you know the darker parts? He doesn't know how to be around me and...I don't like it. I wish I could sit him down and make him talk to me again but knowing him all I'm gonna get is his silent brooding face."

"You'll have to give him some time, Avalon. Just like you got your space after Berlin. Give him sometime to really think about it and then _he'll_ come to _you_. Trust me."

For some reason, Avalon could trust River. It wasn't even because River was from the future, something about her always had Avalon more inclined in her favor. Even when the Doctor was completely against River, Avalon always tried defending her and seeing the helpful sides River often brought to their group. Things had always been like that.

~ 0 ~

With the alarms off, the jewel would be easier to take once they came up with the right plan. However, Amy raised the question of how they would make a clear getaway if somebody would immediately notice the jewel was missing.

"We get a decoy," River's tone was blatantly telling her mother this was yet another obvious thing.

"Really?" Amy jutted her hip. "And do you know where we could get a perfect decoy Ignis jewel?"

"Oh!" Avalon gasped when the answer hit her. "The little shop! There's always little gift shops in these places! I bet they sell all sorta of toy versions of the pieces here."

River pointed at Avalon with a proud smirk. "See that, Mother? Avalon's _thinking_!" Amy rolled her eyes. "Good job Avalon!"

"Thanks. The Doctor always tells me about the stupid gift shops he's spent hours at..." Avalon's smile lessened when she thought about him. She bet that right now, the Doctor wouldn't tell her anything about what he liked.

"Let's go to the gift shop then, see what happens," Amy sighed and rushed off first.

"We need to head to the third floor," River instructed as she and Avalon followed. "Each gift shop probably sells what's on that floor."

They got to elevator quickly and pressed the 3rd floor button. Once they arrived they made a quick down the hallway. Spotting someone familiar, Avalon skidded to a stop near the entrance of the Ignis jewel's room.

"Doctor!" she clung to his arm before he would run off on her.

"What!? Let go!" he frantically exclaimed, assuming this was one of her heist tricks.

"No, listen to me!" Avalon let go only so that he would calm down. "We, uh, we...we took down the alarms."

That sure made him freeze. " _What_?"

"Just for the 2 hours. They're down."

"Why would you tell me this?"

_Because I really like you and I'll basically tell you anything you want_. That would've been nice to say out loud. It would've pulled a smug smile from him. Avalon would pretend to hate it when in reality those smiles made her melt for him. "I just wanted to even the playing field. Wouldn't be very fair, right?"

"Right..." the Doctor gave a slow nod. He made to turn back for the room when he realized he hadn't even made sure Avalon's body wasn't reacting to the new environment. With all the heisting and his own issues, he'd forgotten. He could _never_ let that happen. "How are you feeling?"

The corner of Avalon's lips twitched, warning to turn into a smile. _He still wants to make sure I'm okay._ _Of course he would. He hasn't broken up with you and he hasn't stopped being kind_. "I'm okay. I'm having a lot of fun so...thanks for doing this."

"Avalon!" River hissed from the other end of the hallway, making Avalon jump in her spot. "Stop cohorting with the enemy!"

"Gotta go!" Avalon quickly said and kissed the Doctor's cheek before running off.

The Doctor stayed put in his spot for a few seconds. Whether he wanted to or not, he smiled after her. He was aware of his rude behavior towards her and yet instead of yelling at him, Avalon did _that_ instead. He just didn't know what to do now that she knew more about his dark past.

"Father, I'm in!" the Sapling's voice rang through an comm. piece in the Doctor's ear.

The Doctor shook himself out of his thoughts and focused on their task. "Right. Be careful Sapling!"

"I know!"

"Oh, and the alarms are off. I repeat: the alarms are _off_." The Doctor turned back for the room and strode in like any other visitor. He scanned the room and saw Rory pretending to study an art portrait hanging next to the Ignis Jewel.

_Check._

He then spotted the current tour guide leading a group of guests around the room.

_Check._

"And if you look very closely, you can see that each figure is actually made of _dots_..." the male tour guide was gesturing to the huge portrait hanging in the opposite side of the room. "It was inspired by the human painter-"

"Georges Seurat," the Doctor cut in, nearly sliding in beside the tour guide. "Marvelous French painter if you asked me. Least that's what I used to tell him."

"You've _met_ a human?" One of the guests in the crowd asked, making it seem novelty despite being humanoid themself.

"Of course. Do some travelling, you see..." the Doctor prepared his longest rambling story that he would tell with extra pauses.

Rory glanced over his shoulder to make sure the crowd was deep into the Doctor's riveting story. They were. Rory turned away from the painting and quietly used his own comm. piece. "Sapling, now."

"Yay!" the Sapling exclaimed. He was up in the air vent waiting for his signal and now that it was, he peered over the vent. It was perfectly above the Ignis' display. He placed a hand over the vent and let his fingers extend into branches.

Rory nervously watched the branches stick against the wall and slowly creep its way down. From his spot, the Doctor made sure the Sapling was heading his branch in the right direction.

"Little bit to the right," he mumbled under his breath and continued with his story for the guests.

"Sorry!" the Sapling tried moving his body around so he could see the display and the wall but the slits of the vent were too narrow.

"You've got it now," Rory assured him. The branches were reaching the top of the display. Despite the Doctor telling them that the alarms were off, the Sapling still hesitated to actually touch the glass display. "C'mon Sapling!"

The branches slipped between the wall and the glass case but now the Sapling would have to sneak under the case for the jewel.

"A little to the right now," Rory instructed while not making it blatantly obvious he was staring at the branches on the wall. "No, no, _my_ right not yours!"

"Sorry!" the Sapling shifted the branch to the right side and started to feel the tip of the cushion. "I feel it! Now I just gotta-"

"Aaaah! What is that!?" A screaming woman had froze the trio in their respective stops.

Rory scrunched his face when he realized a woman had stopped by to see the jewel.

"Thanks Rory," the Doctor groaned lightly before rushing towards them. The crowd was right behind him.

"What is that!?" the woman kept crying and pointing at the branch stuck on the wall.

"It's an infestation!" the Doctor quickly supplied the excuse as quickly as it came to him.

"Sapling, get out of there," Rory hurriedly left the crowd to speak to the child.

"I know! I know!" the Sapling wiggled his arm which in turn made the branch on the wall wiggle as well. He winced when he heard the same woman's scream again.

"Nothing to worry about folks, just a petty infestation," the Doctor said only a few seconds before the Sapling disconnected the piece of branch from his body. He beamed at his regular hand and quickly crawled back through the vents.

Down below, the branch crumbled into pieces...and the same woman still screamed.

~ 0 ~

"Right this way folks," Amy the newest museum tour guide led a group down the hallway, going past the Ignis' room.

"Wait, we're not going into this room?" an elderly humanoid man asked and pointed to the room on their way.

"Not right now. It's at the end of the tour, c'mon," Amy motioned the group to walk faster with her.

Inside the room, River and Avalon were making rounds looking at different artworks separately. There were hardly any people in the room since Amy had taken away the current tour group. Avalon waited near the entrance and as soon as a roaming guard walked in, she loudly coughed. River turned right away from an art piece and made a casual walk in the guard's direction. She purposely went around another jewel pedestal and dropped a red jewel that looked exactly the same as the real Ignis.

Avalon waited for River to be a safe distance away from the guard before gasping loudly. "Oh my goodness! Is that the Ignis jewel!?" At her question, the guard spun around to where she was pointing.

"I think it is!" River agreed and motioned the others in the room come see it.

"But that's impossible!" the guard rushed towards the sight, though because people were spread around the jewel, it was difficult getting through.

Avalon took her opportunity to dash up to the Ignis' display.

"Move! Let me see!" the guard shoved an old woman out of the way, earning himself a colorful response from her. "Sorry, ma'am!"

River poked her head around the crowd to see Avalon lifting the glass display, though it seemed pretty heavy judging by the struggle she was in. Avalon had her entire arms wrapped around the glass case and she lifted with all her might. She was halfway there when they got a lovely call...

"Mother! Hi!" the Sapling's sudden call made Avalon drop the case back in its place. At his call, the group turned away from the jewel and allowed the guard to finally pick it up.

"This is just a gift shop souvenir!" he groaned. "Seriously people?"

River scrunched her face but Avalon stalked her way out of the room, intending on shouting at the Doctor and Rory for sabotaging them. However, only the Sapling was in the hallway.

"Where's your father? Why are you alone!?"

The Sapling chuckled. "Father said he wanted to go to the gift shop and I snuck out. I don't think he's noticed yet-"

"Sapling!" they suddenly heard the Doctor's voice from the end of the hallway. He came zooming out of the store and sticking his head into each room for the Sapling. "Sapl-"

"I'm here, Father!" the Sapling waved his hand.

"Yeah, nice going! And sabotaging by the way!" Avalon shook her head and ushered the Sapling to the Doctor.

"Really?" the Doctor smiled proudly at the Sapling for a moment. "Good job, Sapling."

"I didn't mean to but okay!"

"GO!" Avalon yelled through her gritted teeth and was quite satisfied to see both of them rushing away from her.

~ 0 ~

The trip to the gift shop spawned a device for a purpose that Rory couldn't understand yet. The Doctor tinkered with the makeshift device on their way down the hallway. "Right then, with this we'll be able to grasp the frequency of the glass display. According to the Sapling, Avalon struggled to lift it which means that it has to be pretty strong."

"What - so you _were_ sabotaging them?" Rory threw him and the Sapling a disapproving look.

"No, of course not, but the Sapling had perfect timing!"

The Sapling agreed in a hum. "Mother was trying her best to lift the case but she couldn't. I thought I might help her but then I remembered we were on different teams. Maybe next time I can be on her team!"

Rory's eyes widened. "The next...? No! There won't be anymore heists after this! Doctor, whatever you're thinking, please tell me it'll work so we can finally leave this place?"

"With luck, it will," the Doctor tapped a knuckle against the small beeping device in his hands. He'd found some petty tech souvenirs in the gift shop that he'd torn apart to reconstruct for his needs. It resembled his sonic but it was _not_ his sonic. There were no sonics allowed after all. "And I added a touch of a laser in case it doesn't."

"Why would we need a laser?" Rory dreaded to ask and felt even worse when the Doctor smirked.

A short moment later they were back in the Ignis' room. The Doctor moved to the Ignis' display and discreetly took the scan of the glass. The results concluded that they would need to come up with another way to take the glass off because lifting it would require at least two of them and the Sapling couldn't risk using his branch-like abilities in public.

"Gentlemen, listen very closely..." the Doctor started to whisper their next moves and in the next few minutes, they enacted it.

The Sapling was hopping around the room, taking Rory from one art piece to a pedestal. He excitedly touched one pedestal, immediately instigating the scold of the guard.

"Sorry, he's just so excited," Rory apologized but by then the Sapling had gone to touch an art portrait.

"Hey!" the guard went after him and thus Rory too.

The Doctor pointed his makeshift device at the Ignis' display and shot a thin laser at it. He leaned closer to it, making it seem like he was just getting a better look at it while his hand slowly went in a circular shape. Just one small circle and he could pull it off. But midway through, something in the next room exploded and rocked everyone on their feet.

"What!?" the Doctor spun around, his first thought going to the Sapling and Rory, but they were just as confused as everyone else.

"Avalon?" River came running into the room with Amy at her side.

_Avalon_! The Doctor dropped his device to the floor and bolted for the women. "Where's my Ava?" He searched around them but, like everyone else, they didn't know what was going on. The Doctor could actually feel the way his hearts started picking up their beats. "Where is she!?"

"I-I don't know! She was supposed to be cutting through the wall-" River tried gesturing to the wall directly behind the Ignis' jewel but she was just as concerned as the Doctor.

"Everybody stay put!" the guard in the room started heading for the entrance. "Nobody move-" But the Doctor was already way ahead of him, literally. "Sir!" the guard called but the Time Lord was out of the room in two seconds. "Sir!"

"What do you think happened?" Amy quietly pulled River to the side while the rest of the guests were ushered together.

"My guess?" River gave Amy a look asking her if she truly wanted to know. Of course Amy did. "My daughter got carried away with her new toy. Now c'mon, we'll have to be in front of the pedestal in a bit and then we'll have to get Rory and the Sapling. We'll need to do a lot of running!"

~ 0 ~

Avalon was crouched in front of a wall, humming the tune of _Once Upon a Dream_ tune to herself as she finished cutting a circle into the wall with a new gun. She had no idea that guards' guns were _this_ powerful. She'd made an explosion a few minutes ago just because she'd accidentally fired it at one of the metal shelves. The shelf had fallen against the wall and pretty much destroyed everything that'd been on it, but everything else in the storage room was fine.

"River and Amy: I hope you're ready," Avalon said once she successfully cut the hole in the wall. It was a small hold that wouldn't be give her away but would still be visible on the other side. She put the gun down on the floor then pulled out another Ignis decoy jewel from her jean's pocket. Her hand squeezed through the hole and was relieved to feel the velvet of the cushion the Ignis jewel was on.

On the other side, River and Amy were standing directly in front of the pedestal. Amy looked over her shoulder and saw Avalon's fingers searching for the jewel.

"She's in," she whispered to River who was keeping her eyes on the guests. The guard had positioned himself at the entrance, not letting anyone come in or go out until the museum figured out what had caused the explosion.

"Good, because we'll be running in five minutes."

"Why five?"

"Because that's when they'll be figuring out we took down the alarms."

"Ah." Amy's eyes found Rory and the Sapling across from them and willed her husband to meet her gaze. She mouthed ' _Five minutes and run_ ' to him, hoping it'd be enough to get the point across.

Thankfully, he had.

River discreetly glanced behind them and saw Avalon was puling her hand back through the wall with the Ignis Jewel in hand. "That's my girl," she whispered proudly and continued to look ahead.

Back in the storage room, Avalon had cheered when she pulled her hand out and saw the bright red jewel in her palm. "Avalon Reynolds, you are a genius!" She had just stuck her hand back into the hole when the Doctor burst into the room.

"There you are! Are you okay!?" His sudden entrance and yell had startled Avalon into smacking her head against the wall.

"Doctor, you idiot!" She rubbed her forehead with her free hand.

"What are you doing!?" the Doctor made sure to close the door behind him. The guards were going back and forth trying to discover the origin point of the explosion. It was then that he noticed the fallen shelf in the corner of the room. "And _what_ did you do to that!?"

"Had an accident with that," Avalon nodded her head to the gun sitting beside her. "It's all good, though." She struggled to yank her hand out of the hole again but once she did she cheered. "It's all _very_ good!" She jumped on her feet and turned around with the Ignis Jewel in her hand. "Because I just won this heist!"

"I thought you were hurt," the Doctor sighed but she scoffed at his concern.

"Please!"

"What!?"

"Oh you know what it means! You've barely looked at me ever since I told you what I learned with Kovarian! So don't come running here, telling me that you were concerned! Just acknowledge that you've lost!" She waved the jewel in the air and strode for the door, only for the Doctor to grab her arm and turn her back.

"I _always_ care, Ava! I've just been having trouble accepting that you have a better idea of what I am!"

Avalon shoved his hand off her arm and scowled. "For the last time, I _know_ who you are! You're my Fairy Tale Man and I hate seeing you doubt yourself! I know who I'm dating, alright?" Her anger faded to be replaced with a soft sigh. Her lips curved into a near pout. "And I really miss his hugs and his kisses..."

The Doctor's shoulders slumped as his head seemed to lower. "I'm sorry Ava. I'm afraid that this whole blissful bubble is reaching its end and that you're going to be afraid of me. Lots of people are afraid of me...but I don't know what I'd do if _you_ were afraid of me."

"That's never going to happen," Avalon felt like this would have to be something she would be repeating for a while. That was okay. She knew that a few months ago she was in constant need of reassurance. It was her turn to be there for the Doctor and she would be. "I need my Fairy Tale Man right next to me..." She took the needed steps to leave them face-to-face. "And if he needs me to tell him every morning, every afternoon, every night I'll do it." Her free hand came to stroke his cheek. "I'll be there."

The Doctor smiled down at her. "Even if he's an idiot?"

"Yeah, I think it's a cute look on him..." Avalon smirked at his reddened face. She laughed and kissed him, muffling her own laugh.

It was true what Avalon had said. The Doctor had only just now realized it'd been too long without a kiss between them and now that he had her with him, he would be making up for lost time. He passed a hand under her chin, lifting her head up slightly more. It gave a much better angle for a rougher, faster kiss. Avalon brought her arms over his shoulders, never realizing that she'd let go of the Ignis jewel. Neither heard it clink against the floor and roll a few feet away from them.

Avalon forgot the Heist altogether when the Doctor hoisted her up. He hadn't yet done that and she wasn't complaining one bit. She wrapped her legs around his waist and met his lips again for a continuation. The Doctor's hand gone up to the back of her neck and firmly pressed her against his body. He couldn't get enough of her right now. Her sweet lavender scent, on a normal day, was simply wonderful but right now it was intoxicating. He left her lips - something Avalon deeply groaned for - but she got over it when she felt his hot kisses on the side of her neck.

She moaned and tilted her head in the opposite direction, giving him an easier access to her sweet skin. He had only started a few seconds ago and he was already settling in the crook of her neck, a spot he'd come to learn was one of _the_ spots for Avalon. He gently bit down and smirked when she automatically gasped. He felt her fingers grasp the back of his hair, an extra treat for him for being oh-so-kind to her.

"More, more," she patted the nape of his neck, letting her eyes fall shut.

"More?" he taunted with a soft kiss on the same spot.

She groaned at it, making him laugh. "Not funny! Don't start what you're not going to finish you tease!"

The Doctor bit the same spot again, harder than the previous time, and heard her moan for him. He continued his series of kisses afterwards, bouncing her bit to keep her steady between his arms.

Avalon laughed when his lips once again attached themselves to her neck. _Seems like he found his favorite spot,_ she realized and once he started leaving new hot kisses on her clavicle then nearer to her throat and finally lower...she realized it was her favorite spot too. He was outlining the v-neck of her blouse but had distinctly heard her moans louder when he went straight down her throat. She was right, he was a tease and he was enjoying every minute of it. She eventually got frustrated that he'd forgotten about her lips for a while so she raised his head. "I'm up here my love." She dove down for a kiss, quickening it within seconds.

Neither of them noticed the steam that was beginning to rise from the Ignis jewel on the floor...but they flinched when the sprinklers went off. All the rooms had suddenly fired its sprinklers on.

Their lips reluctantly, and slowly, disconnected as they both turned their heads up to the sprinklers.

"I thought we disabled the alarms...?" Avalon made a face at them, though she had to look down from to avoid the pelting of cold water in her eyes.

"Fire system is a different system," the Doctor said distractedly.

"But why would they go off...?"

Their eyes simultaneously widened at each other when they remembered. "The Ignis Jewel!"

The Doctor let Avalon down and both turned their attention to the steaming jewel on the floor. "It wants to burst into fire but the sprinklers are disabling it. We gotta get it out of here." The Doctor ran towards it only for Avalon to scream " _NO_!" and jumped on his back. "AVA!" The Doctor shouted at her.

"It's mine! I had it first!" She exclaimed, keeping her arms tightly around his neck.

"Avalon, get the hell off of me! I'm trying to bring it back to the TARDIS!" the Doctor tried prying her hands off him but she was strongly holding them together.

"Yeah, and bring it into the TARDIS _first_! I know that you're trying to trick me! You bring it in and you win the heist!"

_Maybe I am_ , he silently thought. She was just too smart. "Fine! But it's fair game!"

"IT'S MINE!"

The Doctor spun around twice before finally pushing Avalon off his back. He winced when he heard her hit the ground with a loud thud. "Ava!" He turned around just as she groaned.

"Ow..." She scrunched her face in pain.

"Avalon, I am _so_ sorry!" the Doctor reached to help her stand up. She took his hand but the moment she had a tight grip on him, she yanked him down to the ground beside her. "Uff!" the Doctor felt his back connect with the floor in two seconds flat. He heard Avalon's teasing giggle beside him and turned his head to see her looking at him with the biggest smile on her face. She was looking incredibly beautiful right now despite the water soaking them wet. Her ginger curls were sticking to her face, but her blue eyes were shining with mirth. It was as if somebody had pressed the rewind button and they were back to a time before the Silence and Kovarian had struck. They were traveling together while Amy and Rory were honeymooning. It was just him and Avalon, exploring and pulling shenanigans like this. The Doctor admitted to himself that he could see a life like this with Avalon, _only_ with Avalon because he lo...

_Oh God. I **love** her_. The Doctor felt his hearts stop while he caught up to his own thoughts. He loved her. He _loved_ Avalon. He loved the wild, unpredictable, passionate writer that was Avalon Reynolds. He loved her sweet self, her kind eyes and warm heart...he loved her temper and her challenging personality.

"Gotcha!" Avalon giggled again as she bopped his nose.

The Doctor grabbed her hand before it could leave his face and kept their fingers intertwined. _This is my girl_ , he realized with his swelling hearts. He couldn't imagine himself being with anyone else but her. Only Avalon would pull this kind of stuff on him, and truth be told it was the same stuff he'd do too. One moment they were passionately snogging and the next...she was jumping on his back and he was spinning around to get her off.

He brought their interlocked hands and kissed Avalon's hand softly. "You got me alright."

Avalon blushed and sat upright. "Yeah?" He nodded and smiled when she leaned down to kiss him again. "You got me too," she whispered and pressed another kiss to his lips. "And I'm...going to get myself first place for this Heist!" She jumped from her spot and swiped the Ignis' jewel off the ground.

"Avalon!" the Doctor cried but a part of him was already laughing by the time he got up.

The ginger ran right past him. "Can't catch me!" she taunted on her way out.

The Doctor smirked after her. "I do love me a good chase!"

Avalon's laugh echoed down the hallways they ran through. And because somebody knew her laughter so well, River was able to catch it from the next room.

"Now Amy!"

"RORY!" Amy yelled before she made a dash with River.

"Sapling!" Rory grabbed the Sapling's hand and ran after the women.

"You can't leave this room!" the guard at the entrance barked but River neatly punched him across the face.

Amy's mouth fell open but River yanked her out of the room. "You just punched that guy!"

"Yes, I did! You're welcome!"

"River!" Rory called once he and the Sapling were behind them in the hallway. "You just punched a guy!"

"You're welcome!" River groaned and picked up her pace. They needed to get out of here fast or else she'd have another charge against her.

The group ran past guards and lingering guests until they reached the first floor. Elevators were down so they had to take the stairs, but with their adrenaline they crossed them in no time. Finally, they saw the TARDIS standing in the basement just like they'd left her earlier.

"I see Mother and Father!" the Sapling exclaimed just as the pair had disappeared into the TARDIS.

"I WIN! I WIN! I WIN!" Avalon was cheering around the console when the group ran inside. "I win the heist!"

"Oh shut up!" the Doctor went after her in a sulk. Soon as he saw the others coming in, he took the TARDIS off. Safe and sound they were, but nobody was safe from Avalon's relentless yelling.

Avalon was dancing around the console, waving the jewel in her hand. "I win the heist! And my dear Doctor lost! I win!"

River laughed and high-fived her daughter. "Good job!"

"Yeah!" Avalon high-fived Amy next. "We won, ladies!" She turned around to the Doctor and smirked. "Did I mention I won?"

"You might have mentioned it once or twice," the Doctor muttered.

"Thank God this is over," Rory exhaled and finally felt his stomach rid itself of those knots. "What was that explosion anyways?"

"That was me! I accidentally fired a shelf," Avalon dismissed the matter with a wave of her hand.

"WHAT-"

"But I won! I won the first heist!"

"First and _last_ ," Rory cut in with a stern finger pointed at his granddaughter. "We are _never_ doing this again!"

Avalon's smirk promised something else, though.

"Mother, I'm so happy you won," the Sapling rushed to Avalon's side and hugged her. "But maybe next time I can win!"

Rory groaned, throwing his hands in the air as he turned away. Amy moved over to console her husband.

"Alright, this is truly been a _pleasure_ ," River started making her way around the console, switching buttons here and there to set course for Stormcage. "I must get going though."

"No, not yet. You should dry up and get changed," Avalon gestured to River's wet appearance. They were all soaked from the sprinkles. "Can't have you going back all wet and stuff."

"Right," River agreed with a nod. "Give me a second then." She hurried off for the corridors and since the water had been truly cold, Amy and Rory followed seconds later.

"Sapling, you may be made out of bark but please go get dried up too," the Doctor nodded the child towards the hallway.

"Okay! But what are we going to do with the jewel now?"

"Well, we're giving it back to its rightful owners," the Doctor glanced at Avalon to see her agreeing with a nod.

"Yes! And listen Sapling," Avalon stepped up to the Sapling, crouching in front of him. "Uncle Rory was right when he said that we don't steal. What we did today was different, alright? It was fun, but we weren't trying to hurt anyone. I really hope you understand this..."

The Sapling laughed carelessly. "Of course I do! Mother and Father don't hurt people! Heisting was just different but I know that it's not okay to steal."

"That's my boy," Avalon chuckled and kissed the Sapling's cheek. "Now go get dried up!"

"Okay!" the Sapling ran off to find his bedroom.

"He knows, Ava," the Doctor said once they were alone.

"I just don't want him growing up with my irresponsible behavior in him," she sighed. "God knows I was a handful."

" _Was_?" the Doctor innocently asked and received quite a hard mock glare in return. "You should've seen me back in my day."

"I'd like to learn about it one day," Avalon's eyes gleamed with curiosity. "What was my Fairy Tale Man like when he was a child?"

"Oh, dangerous question..."

"Even then?"

"Yes."

"Oh my..." Avalon laughed shortly then came up to him, a soft smile gracing her soaking face. "Well, when you're ready, I'd love to get to know about those parts of your life. Nine hundred years has to have some nice parts right?"

"...yes," the Doctor nodded slowly. There were plenty of moments he would always cherish from his past. Funny how easily he could forget them when somebody dangled his darker moments in front of him.

Avalon reached around his neck to undo his bowtie, reminding him of the gentle moments he'd missed between them as well. "You should go change too." She picked his left palm up and let his bowtie fall into it. "I'll meet you here in 20 minutes. Maybe 30. This-" she gestured to her wet curls, "-might take a bit more time to tame."

"You still look beautiful as ever," the Doctor passed his hand through her curls. Avalon closed her eyes for a minute and let herself enjoy the touch of his fingers playing with her hair. The Doctor would've loved to play with her hair for hours, but he needed to he responsible. "Go on, love. I don't want you getting a cold. Lower immunity system means you're a lot more susceptible to common illnesses like a cold."

"Right," Avalon sighed with a shrug of her shoulders. She turned to leave but stopped at the stairs. "Oh," she turned back, "And don't worry. I'll be sure to wear this blouse more often."

The Doctor's face went red in an instant, especially when Avalon pushed her hair to one side so he could see the reddened spots on her neck and, shamefully, near her cleavage. He coughed in embarrassment while Avalon laughed.

"I'm a biter too so...expect that the next time," she blew him a kiss and ran off.

_My girl alright_ , the Doctor smiled to himself once he was alone.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Listen I just KNOW that if Avalon was real she would totally vibe with Brooklyn 99. I even know for a fact that she would love Rosa Diaz. I just do okay? And you just know that it would only be Avalon and the Doctor who would pull heists. It's just so them. But yayayay the Doctor knows that he loves her, when do you think Avalon will realize she loves him too? I loved writing that moment too.

**P. S** : I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is " **saiilorstars** ".

And in case anyone's wondering, next chapter is a fluff with a sprinkle of sad angst but for the most part a big ole fluff parade :D


	20. Happily Ever Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avalon and the Doctor finally go out on their first date. As happy as they are to be together, they both can't help but think of the future that's coming for them both.

Avalon had just emerged from her bathroom wrapped in a towel after a long, relaxing bath. She could still smell the lavender scented bath bomb she'd used. She just loved the scent so much! She made it to her closet when she heard a small noise from her door. She peered around the closet door and saw a folded, old looking, paper on the floor.

"What?" she crinkled her nose and walked over to pick it up. In doing so, she found a second smaller paper under it.

At first glance she knew the first paper was made to _look_ old. There was a laced purple bow keeping the paper folded and, as beautiful as it was, Avalon pulled it off and opened up the paper that turned out to be a letter.

_My dearest Ava,_

_It has come to my attention that we have not had a first date. It's frankly ridiculous that I have the most amazing woman at my side and I haven't taken her out on date! I would love to spend one whole day with you and no one else_ _. If you agree, then I shall await for you in the console room in one hour._

_Yours truly,_

_The Doctor._

Avalon felt her entire face warm up after reading the letter. She checked the second smaller paper and found it was a P.S. She had to laugh.

_P.S. If you accept, dress for heat. Literally. It's going to be like summer._

She looked up at the ceiling with a dreamy smile. "Did you see him write this for me?" It was silent for a few seconds but then Avalon heard a light hum. "Well, my Fairy Tale Man just wins for today." She folded the letter again and brought it to her vanity desk and checked herself in the mirror. "I have a _lot_ of work today, don't I?"

The TARDIS hummed and Avalon would dare to say it was an outraged hum.

She giggled and looked up at the ceiling. "You are _far_ too kind to me, you know? I still don't understand why but I'm happy about it. Now," she turned away from the vanity desk and brought her hands together, "I have one hour to make myself look gorgeous. No wet curls-" she wrapped a stark wet curl around her finger, "-and towels! And I absolutely need stunning clothes! Can we do it!?"

The TARDIS hummed loudly, making Avalon laugh again.

"I'm taking that as a yes! Let's do it!" Avalon determinedly marched for her closet to start searching for those out-of-this-world clothes!

~ 0 ~

The Doctor was making endless rounds at the console trying to _wait_ like he promised. He was sure the TARDIS was laughing at him with all the humming she was doing. "Very lovely dear, absolutely lovely," he scowled at the rotor. "I know you can't help favorite Avalon but do remember _I_ have known you for centuries. I deserve a _little_ encouragement from you." And right now he could use all the encouragement and support he could get. He was about to go on a date with Avalon, their _first_ date, and he had no idea if she would like what he set up for them. He'd covered his basis and made sure that Amy and Rory were nonethewisers about it. They and the Sapling were off at a beach to enjoy their day. Today was going to be all about him and Avalon, just them.

It was _nerve-wrecking_.

"You are 909 years old, get _a hold_ of yourself," the Doctor berated himself. He would try not to think about the insane age gap between him and Avalon but right now he needed to remember _his_ age. He couldn't be this nervous over a date - he'd done a lot more than just date in the past so _why_ was this one date different?

_Because it's Avalon you idiot_. The Doctor came to a stop and deeply exhaled. It was Avalon. The girl he was head over heels for. The girl he was in _love_ with and who had no idea about it.

Somebody cleared their throat and since the only people in the TARDIS was him and Avalon, the Doctor quickly spun around to find his ginger.

_Don't spin so fast! That's not cool!_ It was then that the Doctor panicked as he realized that he needed to learn how to be cool, desperately. He always said that he was cool but Avalon tore that to pieces each time she came into a room looking all...well...the way she looked right now.

She really took his suggestion of wearing something for summer. She'd chosen a khaki, tie-front, peekaboo dress with thin spaghetti straps. Its skirt was just a bit flared so it wasn't tight, although the bodice seemed to be just right.

Once the Doctor felt his face heat up he knew it was time to look away, literally anywhere else...but his eyes drifted back to her each time. He caught sight of her legs and suddenly the heat was there to stay.

She'd paired her dress with pink, suede lace up sandals with just a hint of a heel. Her hair was left in its natural curly state with one jeweled rose clip at the back of her hair holding the bump on top of her head. Her curly hair was sometimes her worst enemy.

Avalon slowly made her way up the glass stairs to the console and nervously stopped a few feet from the Doctor. "I got your letter..."

The Doctor took one deep breath in and smelled her lavender scented perfume. _Amazing_. He was also aware of her soft pink lips were enhanced with a shade of lipstick that...that made him want to forget everything and just kiss her all day. "Yeah..." When he realized that wasn't at all cool, much less _suave_ , he shook his head and started again. "I meant yes, that-that was...that was me."

_Dammit._ He wasn't getting it right, was he?

Avalon blushed when she remembered the letter's words. "I've never been asked out on a date through a _letter_..."

"Is that...is that not cool?" the Doctor blinked, panicking all over again. He intended on being different when it came to their relationship and he thought, since Avalon loved everything classical, that an old-fashion letter might be better than him stammering out the question. At the very least it could be more memorable.

Avalon sweetly smiled and leaned forwards to kiss him on the lips. "That was _very_ sweet," she tapped his lips afterwards. "Very romantic."

"That...is what I was going for," the Doctor nodded, slowly finding his voice again. "I will always try to be like that, my _princess_."

Whether she wanted to or not, Avalon blushed again. It was ridiculous, she knew, to get all these butterflies in her stomach at a word that almost anyone would use on their partner. But, when the Doctor used it, she could almost believe that she _was_ a princess. It didn't sound cliche at all. It had _meaning_.

_He_ ** _has_** _saved you plenty of times,_ she reminded herself.

She stepped closer to him and drew her hand over his chest. "And what shall I call you? My knight in shining armor? My prince?"

"I like the first one, makes me sound _cool_." The Doctor grinned smugly, especially when he remembered that's how Avalon had dreamed of him. "Yeah, I'm your Knight in shining armor."

Avalon chuckled. "Not like you haven't been one in my dreams..."

"Was I? I totally forgot," the Doctor feigned surprise. "Didn't cross my mind one bit..."

"You're too modest but I'm not going to get into that right because _somebody_ , I'm not pointing at anyone..." Except Avalon did just that with her excitement sparkling in her eyes. "But somebody promised me an entire day that'd be all about _me_."

"W-well that wasn't...I said to _us_..." the Doctor pointed at himself and Avalon, and though she seemed to nod that she understood...

"Right, about _me_ ," she slowly went around the console, brushing her hands over the controls.

The Doctor playfully rolled his eyes at her, figuring he wasn't going to get anywhere with her and honestly...who cared? He wanted to spend the entire day with her so maybe it was just about _her_. "I've found the perfect place for you, my dear Ava," he went the opposite way around the console, soon meeting her halfway. "And the best part of it is that we won't have _any_ interruptions."

"Oh, and why wouldn't we want any interruptions?" Avalon played innocent so nicely that the Doctor almost believed her, _almost_. "Are you planning on doing something...?"

The Doctor truly hated how quickly the heat returned to his face but he'd taken one look at her dress again, specifically at the exposed shot he got of her midriff, and it was all downhill from there. She was teasing him so subtly and yet so obviously, he absolutely hated it. So why was his body almost on fire?

"Fairy Tale Man?" Avalon stepped closer to him and brought her hand up his arm 'till it came to rest on his shoulder. "You were saying?"

"R-right, uh...I meant to say..." the Doctor did his best to look only at her eyes but she still somehow made her innocent gaze so flirty. "I want a proper date with you where there's no danger, no aliens...except for me," she chuckled, "And especially, no interruptions from beloved Pond 1, Pond 2 and our dear Sapling."

Avalon swayed her head in agreement. It sounded very nice. "It _has_ been a bit constant, huh?"

"YES!" the Doctor nearly shouted, "I love them, I really love them but every time we're in our little moments...they come in and interrupt us. Like, last night, when we were watching a movie and...we got...distracted," Avalon blushed but remain silent as he continued, "They almost walked in!" the Doctor frowned, "Or how about when we were in the archery room and we were having a little moment...and they almost caught us! Every time I want to kiss you or just be alone with you for a while they come in and I'm tired of it! And the Sapling! He's too innocent to figure out that sometimes we just want to be _alone_."

Avalon laughed when she remembered the time the Doctor had _tried_ to explain to the Sapling that his Mother and Father wanted to watch a movie by themselves and the Sapling had asked 'why?' which then led to a very comical stammering from the Doctor. But as funny as it had been, Avalon felt like the Doctor was right. Of course it brought out another issue they hadn't yet come up with a solution for.

"We could just decide to tell them, you know," she said and immediately felt the Doctor stiffen under her hand. "What?" she laughed. "Too scared to face Amy and Rory?"

"Well...yes...honestly..."

And she didn't even know the _half_ of it. The Doctor knew that Rory had expressed his support for a relationship between Avalon and him if it ever arose, but it didn't stop the Doctor from being scared that there would still be a part of Rory that would reject the relationship. After all, Avalon was no longer a friend, she was his _granddaughter_. Of course Rory would want his granddaughter - his only _grandchild_ \- to be with somebody safe. And he...was _not_ safe. Which also brought the idea that maybe even Amy would disagree now that she knew Avalon was her granddaughter. It wasn't just them, it also went back to Avalon's father - now uncle - who they would eventually have to tell. How would Ryland react to his only brother's daughter having a relationship with the man who was surely responsible for Oliver's death? He would have every right to be against it. Only River Song would, seemingly, be in his corner but that didn't stop the Doctor from feeling the guilt. River wholeheartedly agreed with it, even pushed him towards her daughter, but he was the reason River was far away from Avalon in the first place. He'd done so much to the Ponds and of course he would choose to go and fall for one of them.

_Of course_.

"Doctor?" Avalon gently called since he'd fallen deep into his thoughts. "Hey," she noticed his face had gone pale and that couldn't be right, at least not over facing Amy and Rory. "So what if Amy and Rory don't agree? Even if they didn't agree, which I highly doubt to be honest, why would it matter? It's not their relationship, it's _ours_."

"I know," the Doctor lowered his gaze with a weary sigh. It was all so jumbled up.

"Are you sure it's just about them?" Avalon decided to ask what she'd been suspecting for a few days now. "Or is it that you're not quite sure about me yet? Because...because I'm not like you? A...what did you call it? A _Time Lady_?"

The Doctor's eyes snapped up to meet her nervous pair. "That is _never_ it, Avalon. Don't you...don't _ever_ think that, alright?" He cupped her face and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips, only parting enough to talk. "You are perfect the way you are. I would never think any less of you because you're different. Hell, I like you more because you're not like me. My people...they weren't the best, least not in the end. You're not a Time Lady, you are _better_."

"Alright, you don't have to kiss up," Avalon playfully rolled her eyes in an attempt to be casual but the truth was she was close to tearing up. "Actually, you could kiss up if you'd like. Kiss here-" she tapped her lips, "-and here-" she moved her finger to her nose, "-and then over here..." She tapped both of her cheeks.

"As tempting as that sounds - and it's _really_ tempting - I would much rather go on our date. What do you think?"

Avalon nodded her head. "Take me away, Fairy Tale Man!"

"Gladly!" the Doctor grabbed her hand and pulled her to his side.

~ 0 ~

"If I trip, I'm going to kill you," Avalon so romantically warned as the Doctor guided her with his hands over her eyes.

"Don't you trust me?" he planted a kiss on her cheek for good measure.

"Of course but I also trust that you're _very_ clumsy and frankly I'd rather not trip because my idiot of a boyfriend - I mean our relationship that's still yet to be labeled - tripped over his own feet."

"I'm still looking for the right label, don't you worry," he promised and finally stopped them right where he needed her. "Now are you ready?"

"Yes! You're lucky I haven't bitten you!"

"Well, to be honest, biting me isn't really much of a punishment anymore," the Doctor cleared his throat and thanked the stars that Avalon's eyes were closed so she couldn't see his blush.

Avalon smirked. "Duly noted. Now please take your hands off my eyes so I can see!"

"Right, I really hope you like this place." The Doctor took in a deep breath then finally pulled his hands from her eyes.

Avalon was quick to open her eyes but she was initially blinded by the sun. She shielded her eyes until her vision could adjust and when it did, she was mesmerized.

She was standing on a marbleized ground, the 'backyard' of the building behind her. She didn't waste time studying that because what truly took her breath away were the botanical gardens in front of them. She stepped forwards, her eyes landing on the large squared pool - that couldn't be deeper than five feet - in front of them with an aisle down the middle leading to what she imagined were the other gardens. She could see two sets of staircases on either side after crossing the aisle. The green gardens, as well as smaller lakes and pools, seemed like they stretched on forever.

"Where _are_ we?" She turned to the Doctor, her eyes dazzling with excitement at the prospect of everything else she'd yet to see.

"This is the _Gardenia Style_ ," the Doctor extended his arms to his side. "A relaxation retreat for anybody who needs it. It's the best one in the Andromeda galaxy."

"A retreat? I don't...I don't really see anyone," Avalon said after taking another scan of the place but it seemed pretty empty.

"That's cos there's nobody here. They owe me one."

Avalon snapped her head in the Doctor's direction, eyes wide. "So they just...they just let you close down the place? What...because you asked?"

"The head of the place is an old friend of mine. I explained the situation and I asked her if it was possible to give me a day."

"And she said 'yes of course I can shut down my very profitable business just for you!'," Avalon folded her arms, her lips curving into a smile that threatened to laugh. "Doctor, you can just get people to _do_ that!?"

"Well, I...yes?" the Doctor scratched the top of his head. It was something that he did get to do at times but he never took advantage of it either. "I helped her a long time ago when she was having an, uh, infestation problem..."

"Oh, so you saved her ass and now she owes you? Typical," Avalon turned away from him to gaze at the beautiful scenery. "My Fairy Tale Man just saves so many people, huh?"

"So do you like it?" the Doctor moved to stand behind her, his arms cautiously slipping around her waist. He thought it was the perfect place for Avalon because of its fairy tale nature. He was anxious to show her a few special places the gardens had to offer, but he wouldn't do any of it if Avalon didn't like it.

"I _love_ it!" Avalon exclaimed and leaned her head against his chest, tilting it up to show him her grin. "You chose perfectly."

"Anything for my Ava," he kissed her on the lips. "My _princess_."

Avalon felt the dozen butterflies fluttering in her stomach at his new name for her. Yeah, he could keep calling her that for as long as he liked.

"C'mon!" the Doctor unwrapped his arms around her to take her hand.

"What are we going to do?" Avalon laughed as he led them down the small steps towards the pool aisle.

"Anything we want! We have the whole day!"

Indeed they did.

~ 0 ~

Avalon was eager to see everything, but the Doctor was right in that they should start with lunch. And as if to prove her point, her stomach decided to grumble only seconds after the Doctor proposed the idea. So he led her towards the spot where lunch had already been served for them.

Avalon keeled over at the chosen spot. They would be having lunch in a gazebo right in the middle of a beautiful lake. The Doctor led her down the boarded bridge up to the stone gazebo decorated with red poppies, her favorite flower.

"This is amazing," she couldn't keep her mouth from falling each time she looked. She gazed over the lake where flowers lazily floated down their direction. She then turned her attention to the table that was truly set with everything they could possibly eat.

"I'm glad to see you like it," the Doctor's voice pulled her eyes off an odd blue slushy-like content inside a bowl.

She turned around with a wide, soft smile. She walked up to him and looped her arms around his neck then kissed him. "You are wonderful. This entire place, the parts that I've seen is all wonderful. But you know...just because I love fairy tales and I call _you_ my Fairy Tale Man doesn't mean you have to do all this for me. I really would've been just as happy with a picnic or a date in the TARDIS."

The Doctor could see her genuine honesty in her eyes. His hearts swelled knowing that she would be satisfied with something simple so long as they were together, but it didn't mean he could stop himself from enchanting her with everything he could get his hands on. "I just really like impressing you," he said, bringing one of his hands to stroke her cheek. "And I think you deserve only the best."

"You gave me the best thing that happened to my life nearly two years ago when you came back for me. Although, one could say that you only came back for me because Lena asked you to." Avalon casually played with his bowtie while she oh-so-innocently asked her question, "Would you have come back for me if Lena hadn't said anything?"

"Without a doubt," the Doctor had the answer within the second she asked it.

She raised her eyes, dropping her hand from her bowtie. "Really?" There were no more innocent games when she asked again. She had been the last one the Doctor came to pick up after the Atraxi incident, who's to say he wouldn't have changed his mind about her if Lena hadn't needed her. "I was in jail the last the time you saw me. You helped me because Lena asked you to. If she hadn't said anything, would you have still helped me? Would you have come back for me like you came for Amy?"

"Of course I would have," the Doctor once again answered her as soon as she asked. He thought these were rhetorical questions, but River's warning came back to mind. Avalon was a strong girl but every now and then she needed reassurance from people around her. "You helped me when you were seven and you _did_ impress me, Avalon. I have never met another child like you and most certainly another woman like you."

A bright pink blush bloomed across Avalon's face, nothing stopping the big grin on her lips though. "I can say with the utmost certainty that I have never met another man like you."

That was music to the Doctor's ears. He leaned down to kiss her, practically meshing their lips together. Avalon's arms around his neck unwinded slightly to touch his hair. She'd learned fast that the Doctor _loved_ getting his hair touched, stroked and tugged on. Who was she to deny him his bit of pleasure when he was _so_ attentive to her likes? She kissed him fervently and let her fingers stroke through his hair for as long as he wanted because really...who would interrupt them? The flowers in the lake? _Nobody_. That was the best part of this place. They could kiss for as long as they liked, _wherever_ they'd like.

~0~

"Okay, _what_ is _that_?" Avalon laughed as the Doctor picked up the odd blue gushy stuff in a bowl.

The Doctor seemed to like it judging by his grin. "Oh, you'll love it!" He scooted his chair closer to hers with the bowl in hand. "Try it."

"Right, but you haven't told me what it is," Avalon pointed out, "And I'd rather not be poisoned."

"Oi, you think I'm poisoning you?" the Doctor made a face.

"Payback for what _I_ did."

Even if it was a joke, the Doctor didn't like it. "I would never," he whispered earnestly. "Because you know I forgive you for everything, not like I had to though." He reached over to her and gently tucked a curl behind her ear, though it kept sticking back out. He smiled at her so kindly that Avalon teared up.

"Oh God I will never forgive myself for it," she shook her head.

"Ava, don't think about that stuff. You're here now and you're okay. I won't let anything happen to you, never again."

Avalon smiled through her tears. "Okay, let's try that gushy stuff then." She tried her best to eat it without letting it spill on her dress. They collectively laughed when she slurped it up. "That's ladylike for sure!"

"What'd you think?" the Doctor handed her a napkin.

"I love it! Kind of like blueberry!"

"Excellent, then I know you'll love Akhaten!"

Avalon shot him a confused smile. "Aka-what?"

"Akhaten, you'll love it! It's a planet with a big ole market place and a beautiful sun."

"I'd love to go there," Avalon's smile widened with excitement.

The Doctor chuckled, "I'll take you one day, I promise."

Avalon beamed. Something about making plans for the future made butterflies appear in her stomach. It also made her want to push away all thoughts about Lake Silencio even harder. She couldn't let that future happen. In fact, now she was thinking about the moment a lot clearer. A lot of the Doctor's behavior was beginning to make sense. He'd been a lot nicer to her than what their relationship back then entailed. He didn't even get mad at her for stealing a Milan fashion dress! _That_ should've been her first clue that he'd been a future Doctor. _My Doctor wouldn't get so mad at me right now..._

"Hey Doctor, what would you think of going back to Milan again for fashion week?"

"I think I would die of boredom 2 seconds after we get there," the Doctor answered with an honest-to-God straight face.

"Well, how about if I nicked something kind of pretty for me?" she arched an eyebrow. "Maybe something kind of sexy?"

That definitely got his attention. "Uh, well..." He cleared his throat, obviously finding nothing to do with himself in the moment. "I-I would think...they...they probably wouldn't miss _one_ silly little dress..."

Avalon smiled widely. The Lake Silencio Doctor was truly a future version. He'd been this Doctor she had in front of him, the one who cared for her so much that he couldn't find a label to describe just how much he felt for her.

"Ava, what's wrong?" the Doctor reached to clear off a tear rolling down her cheek.

She quickly blinked the rest away. She had teared up without noticing. "N-nothing. I'm happy, I'm very happy right now." She took his hand from her face and held it tightly in hers. "You have no idea how _much_ I care for you, Doctor. I'm almost upset that you haven't come up with a good label for us just so I can use it right now."

"I _am_ trying," he assured her. "I might just have to create a new word for us. _That_ is how much I care for you." Avalon chuckled but there were still tears welling in her eyes. It puzzled the Doctor deeply. "Why are you crying, Ava?"

"These are happy tears," she tried to argue but he had come to know her that well now.

"No," he cleared more tears off her face with his free hand. "They're sad tears. What is making my Ava so sad?"

Avalon felt so stupid for ruining their date, but she couldn't stop the tears. He was right, they _were_ sad tears but they were also fearful tears, and even happy tears. She was an outright mess. "I just..." She sniffed and let go of his hand to dry her face completely.

The Doctor pushed his chair back to stand up but Avalon beat him to it. She got up from her chair and easily slipped onto his lap. She pressed her lips to his for a sweet, long kiss. The Doctor truly had no idea what was going on but he would never refuse the chance to kiss her.

A few minutes later, Avalon pulled away but only slightly. She smiled at him but the Doctor could still see that same sadness in her eyes. He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.

"Tell me what's wrong, Ava, and I'll make it better. I'll always try to make everything better for you."

"Really? _Anything_?"

"Anything."

_Don't be stupid._ Avalon took his hand stroking her face and gave it a kiss. "Can you promise me something?"

"Anything." The Doctor was willing and ready which did, admittedly, give Avalon a teeny-tiny bit of hope that maybe this time they could change the future.

"Promise me that _we_ won't end. Promise me that you'll try to stay at my side...at least until you get tired of me."

The Doctor thought it was silly that she'd want to hear this but...if she needed reassurance he'd give it to her. "I promise. I promise to stay at your side..." Until Time would say otherwise and Time _had_ already spoken, he was just too much of a coward to tell her the truth. He made it a routine to check his biography from the Teselecta every day, reminding himself of what was to come in 200 years. Perhaps he was ridiculous for thinking that he could change the future, but having Avalon with him right now, asking him to stay at her side...it created a powerful drive to make it so.

He couldn't fathom _not_ being with her.

She was still holding onto his hand when he maneuvered his fingers to stroke her skin. "I promise that I will be at your side until I die." _That_ was a promise he could keep.

Avalon took in a shaky breath. ' _Until I die_ '. She _had_ been at his side when he died.

"Why don't we finish lunch and then I can show you the rest of this place, hm?" the Doctor asked. He wanted to rid her of those tears ruining her usual clear blue eyes. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed each of her fingers. He was glad to see her smiling by the time he kissed her pinky.

Avalon ultimately nodded her head. She shouldn't waste such a beautiful day on horrid thoughts. "Okay, but one more thing...do I _have_ to get off?"

The Doctor hook his head, grinning almost immediately. "Not at all. But you might have to help me eat..."

Avalon swayed her head then reached for a few grapes on a nearby bowl. She held one to his mouth and watched him take it off swift and easily. She then dropped one into her own mouth and smirked at him.

_How the hell can she make that look so seductive?_ The Doctor figured he wouldn't get that answer, so the least he could do was take advantage of every moment it happened.

~ 0 ~

After lunch, the Doctor got to lead Avalon through the gardens. He had shown her the smaller pools which, unfortunately, he did not allow her to dip her toes in. She rolled her eyes at his excuse that, while being true, was still annoying.

"So I get a cold, what's the big deal?" she was only letting him hold her hand because if not, there was a good chance she'd get lost in the maze they'd entered.

"The big deal is I don't know how aggressive that cold might get and I don't feel like seeing you _get_ a cold. I _am_ the Doctor, remember? My patient is not getting sick on my watch."

"Patient?" she shot him a side-glance. "Is that all I am?"

"Still working on a label my love."

Avalon's head turned in the opposite direction when she felt a blush cross her face. Whenever the Doctor would say ' _my love_ ' to her, her face automatically went all warm. She was choosing to ignore the tingle - as best as she could - that was going down her back.

"Not upset are you?" the Doctor noticed her gaze had become stuck on the bright green bush walls.

"No, course not," Avalon finally gave him a well needed look a few seconds later. "I have to say, I love this maze...one could get lost in it forever, huh?"

"No, not really," the Doctor shook his head. "It's not that big."

"Still, a maze? Gardens? Lakes? Doctor, I _really_ love this place," Avalon turned to him with a smile to match what she felt. "I'm curious to see where you might take me tomorrow, on a _normal_ day?"

"Well, 'normal' isn't exactly the word I'd use for us. But to answer your question, I'd take you anywhere you'd like."

"Really? Anywhere?"

"Anywhere. My only rule is that it has to be _exceptional_ for my Ava." The Doctor took her hands into his, intertwining their fingers together.

"Even if it's outrageous?" Avalon bit her lower lip with anticipation. "Could I ask to see something outrageously exceptional, then?"

"Of course. Name something, I dare you."

Avalon hummed while she thought about such an outrageous place that even _he_ couldn't make it happen. "I got it. Can you take me to, I don't know, _Neverland_?" That _had_ to be impossible for him to reach.

"I'd make it so," the Doctor gently tugged Avalon to him, smiling at her soft laughter. "I would!"

"It's from a movie, Doctor!"

"Doesn't mean I can't find a piece of it somewhere up there," he tilted her chin up to the sky. "Cos that's the best thing about traveling in the TARDIS, Ava. Somewhere in the galaxies, in one small corner, there might be two little stars and we'd only have to go to the second star on the right."

Avalon stared at him with twinkling eyes. "You would make it so even if you couldn't," she said quietly. The Doctor only gave a light shrug, but it was done almost automatic, like an instinct. He didn't know if he could ever find the place but he would try to find it for _her_. "Second star to the right," she whispered.

"Those are our plans for tomorrow then," the Doctor swooped down to give her a kiss. "Can't wait to see what we come up with for the day after."

Avalon laughed and allowed him to pull her down the maze. "You're going to get us lost!"

"I will not!" he huffed. He stopped them at an intersection and Avalon swore he looked at each path more than what a person who knew what they were doing had to. "I've been here a bunch of times!"

" _Oh,_ who with?" Avalon raised an eyebrow at him, genuinely curious who had had the privilege of seeing this beautiful place.

"What?" the Doctor registered the question a few seconds after choosing to turn to the left. "Who did I...? Oh! I, uh, I think I showed Donna!"

"You don't remember?" Avalon made a face at him, almost looking offended on behalf of Donna.

"Well, it was such a long time ago!"

"But you said Donna used to be your best friend, how could you forget that you came here with her?"

The Doctor came to a slow stop and looked at her. "I _do_ have 900 years worth of memories, Ava. My head's not _that_ big, despite what you all say. Plus, a good chunk of my memories are with the Sapling."

Avalon rolled her eyes and allowed him to finish their way out of the maze. She gave him his credit for finding the way out in five minutes, although she suspected that Donna had played a huge part in finding the way out because Avalon swore that the Doctor had mumbled some type of mnemonic to help him find the way in the end.

"What a beautiful sight," she remarked once they were on the other side. The maze had led them out on a new grassy terrain with a cliff ledge.

The Doctor brought Avalon towards the edge so she could see the waterfall gushing below into a river. Where that ended, Avalon had no clue, but it all looked amazing. The sun was making the water shine a golden shade that Avalon didn't want to look away anytime soon.

"C'mon Ava," the Doctor had to eventually drag her away from the edge. He was a bit afraid that in her attempt to look further below, she might fall. He'd love to make a dive himself but Avalon didn't know how to swim. That would probably be a problem.

"But I want to keep looking," Avalon complained with an arm gesturing at the scenery.

"We can do that, just not right at the edge!" The Doctor brought them back a decent amount from the cliff and then sat down on the grass. He patted the spot beside him and flashed her a smile. With a roll of her eyes, she sat down. As soon as she'd gotten comfortable, the Doctor moved again.

"Doctor, what are you...?" Avalon laughed when he made himself comfortable with his head over her lap. He shifted far too much, making it a show until he finally found his spot. "Are you good now?" Avalon looked down at him with another laugh.

"Oh yeah," he nodded but a few seconds later Avalon noticed the quick dart his eyes did to the opposite direction.

"What is it?"

"Um, your, uh..." he coughed in an obvious manner of awkwardness. "It _is_ a beautiful dress you're wearing, Ava."

Avalon blushed when she realized he'd gotten a little glimpse through the hole of her dress below her chest. She pressed her dress and cleared her throat. "Sorry. You can look now."

The Doctor suspected she wasn't very sorry, and if he was going to admit silently then he wasn't sorry either. _You are **way** ahead of yourself, Doctor. Calm down._

"I bet your mind just rushed with new thoughts, didn't it?" Avalon smirked.

"Oh, shut up!"

"Alright, alright, I'll let it go because you're doing _so_ good today."

"I am?"

"Mhm," Avalon started stroking his hair, much to his delight.

The Doctor was sure that she had the most gentle fingers. She was a writer so maybe that had to do with it. _But there's no explanation for the way she makes me feel when she touches my hair_. Several times the Doctor had to swallow a moan. He wasn't sure if Avalon knew what she caused, but either way he couldn't ask her to stop. It felt too good.

"Don't fall asleep on me, Fairy Tale Man," Avalon chuckled when a few minutes had passed by and the Doctor hadn't opened his eyes.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" the Doctor cracked one eye open. "I heard from Amy about your little tricks at your sleepovers. You drew all over her face and you had the audacity to scribble a little _'sincerely_ _Ava_ ' under." If he had, had the slightest doubt that his Ava could pull off something like that, the confirmation was all in Avalon's smirk. "You are one _bad_ girl."

"And yet you don't sound the least bit upset about it," Avalon bopped her nose over his roguish lips.

"I do like myself a bad girl, especially the gingers. They're the feistiest!"

"Are you speaking from experience? Have you dated another ginger like me?" Avalon scrunched her face as soon as she realized what she asked. She placed her finger over his lips before he could answer her. "I'm not sure I can handle the long list you have of significant others." She raised her finger from his lips and sighed. "That doesn't mean I would want you to forget about them, though. I mean...I'm not gonna be one of those people demanding you forget every other relationship you've ever had."

"I thank you for that, and it's the same for you, you know," the Doctor reached up to her face and stroked her plump pink lips. "But that doesn't mean I'd like to hear who else had the privilege of kissing these lips."

Avalon rolled her eyes. "Many have had the fortune but none will have it now but you. I hope you extend me the same courtesy."

"You know it."

"I hope so because I know your track record, mister. Almost every companion has had a piece of you!"

"That was...that's... _I_ didn't do anything!"

"Oh, I'm sure!" Avalon would've bantered more with him if he wasn't reacting so serious. He should know by now that this was just her way of being. "Calm down, Fairy Tale Man. I'm just pulling your leg."

"Well, can you pull my hair instead?" the Doctor didn't hesitate to respond with. He short her a smirk and pointed to his unkempt hair.

"You are so..." Avalon wouldn't be able to find the right word to describe him and she wasn't going to spend all day thinking of one. She let her fingers once again run through his hair and smiled when he saw the satisfaction on the Doctor's face. "Can I ask you something?"

"Always."

"I, uh...you know that _I_ know about your past, perhaps not all of it but a good amount. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, I would really get it..."

"You're rambling, Ava," the Doctor opened his eyes to see her struggling face. "What is it?"

"I know about your last love, your most _recent_ last love." Soon as she started with those words, she felt the Doctor's body stiffen. "There's no resentment, Doctor. _Never_. I'm only curious about her. Rose Tyler was her name. Kovarian mentioned her a lot. She said that Rose unintentionally helped the Daleks break through the walls of the universe."

"She had no idea what she was doing," the Doctor said quietly. "She wanted to come back to this world..."

"...to find you?" Avalon smiled softly at him, truly bearing no type of anger or resentment like she said. "I can admire that. She broke through parallel walls just to find you. Must have been one hell of a love story."

"It was," the Doctor said after a minute of struggle. He wasn't used to talking about his past with anyone, much less to think about people like Rose, people that had meant a lot to him.

"You can always talk to me, Fairy Tale Man," Avalon whispered and the Doctor wasn't sure if she was doing it on purpose or subconsciously, but her fingers found a gentler way of stroking his hair. "Is there something you want to tell me about Rose Tyler? Let somebody new in on her memory?"

The Doctor smiled. _My Ava_. "She was sweet, she was young - she was your age when we first met. Nineteen. She worked at a shop and...she didn't really know what she was doing with her life."

"I felt that," Avalon chuckled. She never knew what she was going to do with her life before the Doctor returned to Leadworth.

"Travelling helped her find her way. But then she got pulled into a parallel world. She almost died but she was saved. Being stuck in that parallel world was better than for her to have died in the Void with the Daleks and Cybermen."

Avalon fingers stopped between the Doctor's hair. "The Daleks and Cybermen..." she whispered. She closed her eyes when the memories tried coming back. "Kovarian showed me so many pictures of that battle...I can't...I can't believe it..."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said, feeling guilty he was bringing back the things she wanted to clearly forget.

"No, no, you're good. I...I wasn't even there, I mean...I wasn't in the eye of the storm where it happened. But you were...you were there when your friend got lost. I'm so sorry it happened."

"It started a lot of things," the Doctor said with a saddened smile. Losing Rose had been one of the most terrible days of his life, but it truly did start different stories afterwards. "I met Martha soon after - actually, I met Donna before and then Martha but then I found Donna again."

"Lucky her," Avalon resumed with her gentle fingers gliding through his hair.

"Yeah...no...no, she wasn't. It was fate. I met her to lose her as well."

"You always say that I remind you of Donna," Avalon said, unable to keep her curiosity hidden. "Why's that? Besides the ginger thing of course. That doesn't automatically make us twins or something."

The Doctor chuckled. "I know. You two shout at me the same way, the only difference is now I can kiss you to shut you up. If I did that with Donna she'd kill me. She made it very clear to on her first day in the TARDIS that she did _not_ want anything to do with me beyond friendship."

"Did she shout it?"

"A possibility."

"Alright Donna," Avalon smiled.

"I wish you could have met her, Avalon. I think out of everyone I met before you and the Ponds, you would've gotten along with Donna the best. She could be reckless and fun when she wanted to be. She grew to become confident, to love who she was. She was brave as hell and so sympathetic to others. She had some very good snaps and comebacks too. She even gave me my own nickname like you did. _Spaceman_." Just remembering the many times Donna would call him 'spaceman' made him long for the times with his best friend. He'd love to have Donna around so she could meet Avalon and no doubt make fun of him for taking so long to open up about his feelings.

Avalon tilted her head in thought. "Spaceman...I like it. Not as much as Fairy Tale Man but...she had taste." She looked down at him to find him lost in thoughts, no doubt about Donna. "You really miss her, huh?"

"Yeah. If I hadn't had to wipe her memories, I'm sure she would still be here. She would be making endless jokes about the fact we had a cosmic tree child."

Avalon laughed. "You think so?"

"I _know_ so!"

"She sounds great, Doctor, really. She and Rose do. I'm so sorry that you lost them."

The Doctor sobered from his own laugh but when he smiled, it was no longer sad. He gazed up at her and met her lovable sea-blue eyes. He finally sat up and shifted to sit beside her, facing her, with one arm going over her lap to rest on her other side. "I lost them but I have you now. I did love Rose, I won't lie - not that I could - but I lost her a long time ago. And I understood why. She wasn't for me. She wasn't... _mine_. You are. And Donna's gone, my best friend, but I found new friends. I have Amy, Rory, and my sweet baby sister Lena. I have all of you now."

Avalon's eyes glistened with tears. "Why do you always make me tear up dammit?"

"I'm sorry, dear," the Doctor rubbed his thumb over her cheek.

"They're happy tears, trust me," Avalon said, this time genuinely truthful. "I'm happy that _you're_ happy. Let's me know that I'm doing a good job here."

"Of course you are. No matter what you do I'm happy, so long as you're by my side." He leaned closer to her, purposely pausing just in front of her lips to give her a heads up of what was coming. "Are you happy?"

Avalon felt like that was a ridiculous question to ask, but she humored him. " _Very_. I wish I could thank Rose and Donna, and everyone else who came before me, for saving your ass so you could be here with me."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "You just couldn't help yourself, huh?"

"No..." Avalon giggled. "I'm really _bad_."

"Yeah," the Doctor agreed before kissing her. God knows what else she might say.

~ 0 ~

"Hey Doctor, I just realized, how come you didn't tell me about your other friend, Martha Jones?" Avalon asked once the pair were out of the maze and cliff altogether. They were in front of a rectangle-shaped, 2ft pool. Avalon noticed the stone flower statues lining the middle of the pool.

"Oh, uh, cos I'm saving her for a better moment," the Doctor said, flashing her a mischievous smile.

"What are you up to Fairy Tale Man?"

The Doctor turned to her, letting his mischievous smile widen even more. "Confession time?"

"Always!"

"Back when I was looking for you, I actually had some help from my old friend Martha. I thought we might pop back to see her and you can meet her."

Avalon nodded excitedly. "I'd love that! You think she'd like me?"

"Of course she would," the Doctor said, preferring not to think about how Martha had implied this relationship was coming. He'd just have to suck it up and admit she was right sooner or later. "And, I guess...we could get our mutual old friend...Jack..."

Avalon had heard the name perfectly despite how low the Doctor had muttered it. "Jack!? Oh my God, I'd love to see him again! I haven't seem him in such a long time!"

"Please...try to look excited..." the Doctor's face was completely flat while Avalon practically bounced at the idea of seeing the old immortal man.

"I _am_!" Avalon laughed, not noticing his expression yet. "I love Jack! He just gets me and my weaponry interests!"

"Oh, well...so long as you're happy, I guess..."

Avalon rolled her eyes when she finally got his disdain. "Oh Fairy Tale Man. He's my friend! I"m allowed to have friends that are men!"

"Yeah, but Jack just _loves_ to flirt with everyone and so do you! I dread to think of what it's gonna be like seeing you flirt with him!"

" _Jealous_?" a sly smile took Avalon's face. The Doctor huffed and looked away. "I guess I should keep my mouth shut about my actual previous boyfriends, then?"

"Yeah!"

"Did you say no? I heard 'no'!" Avalon turned away with her hands clapped together. "Let's see, oh! How about my very first boyfriend? Ah, Leo. I liked Leo a lot. You know he took me on a date to the ice cream parlor!"

"Gah," the Doctor waved her off. "Pales in comparison to all this!" He flapped his arms to his sides, gesturing to the beautiful gardens around them.

Avalon kept her back to him but was smirking. She was getting a rile out of him and it was the most hilarious thing ever! "I had my first kiss with him too! I was fifteen but, eh, nothing wrong with a late bloomer! Then there was Benjamin. He was such a sweetheart," Avalon brought a hand over her chest. "He wrote poems for me!"

The Doctor let his arms fall to his sides. He was about to shoot her a comeback but he could tell, even when she wasn't facing him, that she'd started to truly reminisce about her past, just like he had. He couldn't be mad at that. "Did he write them well?" he asked suddenly.

Avalon turned sideways and nodded silently. "He uh...he actually asked me if I..." she chuckled, "He asked me to our school dance in a poem. It was such a cheesy poem but I was so excited cos it was my first school dance." She didn't exactly make the best reputation for herself in school so having a guy actually write her a poem just to ask her out to a dance was beyond her. It still warmed her heart. "Mum took me out shopping for a dress, she tried her best to make this-" she grabbed one of her curls, "-decent, and she let me wear her special lip gloss. Benjy...he was one of the sweet guys."

"Benjy..." the Doctor repeated though there was a light laugh that slipped through his lips. "Then I like him for being thoughtful."

"Really?" Avalon set a hand on her hip. "Cos a minute ago you looked ready to yell."

"Well...you deserve some good memories too, and if 'Benjy'-" the Doctor brought his fingers to the air for quotation marks, "-made you happy then I'm happy too."

"He did," Avalon nodded. "And then a year later he had to move to Scotland. I hated Amy so much..." There, the Doctor _laughed_. "Her stupid country took away my Benjy!"

"Oh, Ava!"

Avalon sighed, waving him off. "That was my first real break up. I was so sad. Took me forever to get over him. But then I dated again, met Jordan. He was a bad guy..." She smirked and the Doctor had to keep himself refrained from moving when she started biting her lip. "He had the black leather jacket.. _.oh_! I had some good times with him."

"Really?"

"Mhm. He was a good kisser."

"So what happened to him, then?"

"Dumped me for some other girl," Avalon scowled.

"Oh," the Doctor wasn't expecting that answer, least not yet. "I'm sorry..."

Avalon shrugged. "Wasn't my first, wasn't my last. I had a couple more boyfriends after that but I don't think they were very meaningful."

"No more 'Benjy's'?" the Doctor asked her, a tiny smile quirking across his lips.

"A few but...I don't know, some of the guys were just boring and others wanted things I didn't want. I think only ever liked Benjy. We dated for a year until he moved. My last boyfriend, the one that dumped me the night you came back for me, remember?"

The Doctor nodded. He remembered her face full of tears. Now _that_ guy deserved all his hatred. No one should make his Ava cry.

"He was fine. We were fine but...I wanted to find Lena and he thought I was getting obsessed. He couldn't handle it so he broke up with me." Avalon exhaled deeply, letting her shoulders once again awkwardly shrug. "I didn't have epic love stories like you did..."

"But they're your stories," the Doctor moved up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Mm, and I wouldn't change them," Avalon pecked his lips and turned around to watch the pool, resting her back against his chest.

The Doctor couldn't help think about her words for a moment. They were the same ones River had told him back when Avalon had escaped the TARDIS to visit her in Stormcage.

His thoughts were interrupted when the sprinklers of the pool turned on. Avalon yelped when the drizzle of water and mist fell over them. She turned around and buried her face in his chest. "Not my make up!"

The Doctor laughed and hurried them away from the sight. "C'mon, Ava!"

They ran down the gardens, only stopping here and there to admire. One part of the gardens had a field dedicated to statues. There was no pattern nor order, just statues meant to be admired by the guests. They were gorgeous...only Avalon found one that reminded her too much of the Silence, so the Doctor quickly changed venues. But funny thing was, after they left the statues, they forgot all about it.

"Is the sun setting already?" Avalon asked as they began nearing the building where the TARDIS was. The sun was getting covered by clouds and actually...there seemed to be a lot of clouds suddenly.

"I'm afraid so," the Doctor lamented like her that their day was coming to an end.

"Still, our day together _was_ rather nice..." Avalon side-glanced him. "Right?"

"Truly." The Doctor brought her hand to his lips for a kiss. "The first of many." Avalon beamed. She would love to see what else he could come up with. "C'mon," he led her down the pool aisle to return to the front, but Avalon let go of his hand midway. He turned back to see her gazing at the two pools. "Ava?"

"Are these like...sacred pools or something?"

"What? No, no, they're purely here for aesthetic reasons."

"Ah..."

"Why?"

Avalon smirked at the water, giving the Doctor about a second to realize what she was thinking before she actually did it.

"Avalon-"

Avalon hopped into the water, splashing the water around her. The water only reached to her ankles but it was enough for her to have fun wiggling her way through it while splashing.

"Avalon! Get out of there! You'll get sick!" the Doctor called to her in vain.

"Don't be a spoilsport!" She called and kicked some water his way. "I can't swim so this is as close to a pool as I'll ever get! C'mon!" She walked towards him, ignoring his refusals, and splashed some water his way.

"You are childish!" He stepped his boots hard on the ground to get rid of the water they now had.

"And yet you're smiling! C'mon!" She reached down and pushed more water in his way. "We're about to leave anyways! One more shenanigan!"

The Doctor exhaled and finally looked at her. _Shenanigans._ That was literally what they did most and it was always so much fun and... _spontaneous_. He couldn't plan around Avalon because even when he did - like this entire place - she always did something out of his plans. And he loved it. She brought him the thrill he didn't know he needed.

"Coming, Fairy Tale Man?" Avalon backed away and twirled about in the water.

The Doctor thought she looked beautiful. She looked _happy_. It was nothing compared to Berlin, or after. His Ava was happy...and she was calling him to her side, right where he once told River he'd love to be. Almost like he was in a trance, the Doctor hopped into the pool. Avalon was still twirling when the Doctor reached her. He picked her up midspin from behind and heard her laugh as he gave her another spin.

"Gotcha my dear!" He planted her feet back on the ground but kept his arms locked around her waist, only offering her space so she could turn to face him.

"Couldn't resist, could you?" Avalon cheekily smiled at him.

"I could never resist _you_."

"Smooth," she rolled her eyes. She danced her fingers along his chest until they came to rest over his shoulders. "Is this the end, then? Has our date come to an end?"

"Not quite, there's one more thing we have to do."

"What is i-"

The Doctor swooped down for a surprise kiss then hurried out of the pool. His feet splashed the water all around until he made it to the cement ground. "But you'll need to get out of that pool!" He called back to the ginger still in the pool.

Avalon laughed. "Why? What are you doing?" She watched him dash for the TARDIS and because she was overly curious, she listened to his words and walked out of the pool.

She raised her head to the sky and saw the clouds getting darker. Maybe it was a good thing their date was ending because it looked like there was rain coming. Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft tune that started from the TARDIS. It only took Avalon a few seconds to recognize it. He'd chosen to play _Once Upon A Dream_ for her.

She laughed just as the Doctor came out of the TARDIS. She wouldn't even bother with his smug face - he deserved it this time. "That's my song, _our_ song..."

"Our first dance," the Doctor hurriedly hopped down the steps to join her by the pool.

"How could I forget?" Avalon sighed in content. It'd been the first day she felt genuinely happy with him. He'd taken her to meet Mary Costa and she'd become a singer to the very song now playing.

"Would you like to dance, princess?" the Doctor held a hand out for her.

"There's nothing else I'd like to do, my knight in shining armor," Avalon did the familiar bow of a princess then took his hand.

The Doctor gently pulled her up to him and set his free hand on her waist. Avalon gripped his other hand that held hers and rested her free hand on his shoulder. The two descended into a slow dance. They were so into their moment that they completely ignored - or perhaps they didn't even hear - the thunder cracking in the sky.

" _Now_ it's a perfect date," the Doctor murmured beside Avalon's ear.

She slightly tilted her head in the opposite direction, smiling so widely it could possibly crack her face. "It was a perfect date from the start. I have never had somebody go through this much trouble just for me."

"You deserve everything, Avalon," he pressed a kiss to her cheek.

She doubted that she did. There was no denying that her background involved a lot of running from the law. She liked the running too, the adrenaline. She made some bad choices in the past and it seemed like she would continue doing the same. There was a part of her that feared her bad choices would lead her to Lake Silencio. _What if **I'm** the one in the astronaut suit?_ _What if the Silence weren't done with me?_ Avalon screwed her eyes shut in terrible fear. She couldn't let that happen. She would rather die than ever become a weapon for them.

"Ava?" the Doctor gently called her name. He didn't know what was running through her head but he figured it couldn't be good if it had her squeezing her eyes shut. "Are you okay?"

Avalon opened her eyes and smiled lightly. "With you? Always."

This time they heard the thunder roar but Avalon gripped the Doctor to their spot. She wasn't ready to leave yet. " _I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream. I know you! The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam..."_

The Doctor smiled. _Of course._ They couldn't leave until the princess sang her song. And he loved this princess' voice as much as he loved when she stroked his hair. They danced together as Avalon's melodic voice filled the air.

" _Yet I know it's true the visions are seldom all they seem. But if I know you, I know what you'll do..._ " she laughed when the Doctor dipped her, keeping their faces close together. " _You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream..._ "

The Doctor brought her back up but kissed her midway, unable to help himself even if it caught her song off. Avalon didn't seem to mind. She moved her lips with his for as long as she could, or _they_ could...

Thunder cracked one more time before the rain started. They parted from their kiss only slightly to look at each other.

" _But if I know you, I know what you'll do. You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream..._ " Avalon finished with the biggest smile on her face.

The water was thinning her curls, flattening them to her face and body. She watched the droplets of water drip from the Doctor's strands of hair over his forehead. She reached her hand over and gently moved his hair to the side.

"Singing and dancing in the rain, _now_ we have the perfect ending to the perfect date," she said, laughing when the Doctor gave them another sway of a dance. "I will never forget this day, Fairy Tale Man." She leaned over and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck the more they kissed.

A kiss under the rain was truly the last bit they needed before they could leave such an enchanting place.

When the Doctor heard actual lightning strike, he knew it was time to go. Still, he reluctantly pulled away from Avalon but she wasn't letting him go. "Time to go home, princess."

Avalon smiled and nodded. She had dressed for _heat_ , not _rain_. "Okay." She unwinded her arms from his neck and let the Doctor guide them towards the TARDIS. Neither of them noticed a small, truly minuscule, device had been placed on one of its sides. When the TARDIS dematerialized, the bug device flashed to life.

"The time has come to collect the rest of my memoriesssss." The Scream emerged from the building's back door. He raised a handheld device in his hand, a tracker of his own unique kind, and watched it. "I will follow youuuu Doctor. I know exactly how to take what's miiiiine."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is **"saiilorstars"**


	21. Orphan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The travelers have landed in a planet the Doctor can't quite remember (but thankfully the Sapling can) and possibly find another Time Lord...a Time Child?

"Where's a prefrontal cortex when you need one!?" The Doctor grumbled as he tirelessly rubbed his temples. This was _not_ working. If anything, he felt his mind more jumbled than when he first started.

"Nice tiara," he suddenly heard Avalon remark. The Doctor cracked his eyes open to see her and the Sapling standing in front of him. "How come you get a tiara and I can't?"

The Doctor's face fell flat at the question. "First, this-" he pointed to the Chameleon Arch helmet over his head, "-is _not_ a tiara. And second of all, the last time you saw a crown was Queen Mary's and you tried stealing it!"

Avalon folded her arms, about to make a better argument when the Sapling giggled beside her. "You were trying to borrow it," he said.

"I was?" She blinked suddenly, as if realizing something. "Wait, how come I can't remember that?"

"Because the Sapling remembers it," the Doctor sighed. "Remember, whatever he remembers of our memories _we-_ " he gestured at himself and her, "-can't. He has our memories."

"Right…" Avalon brought a hand to her forehead. Her mind was already conflicted with her memory wipe from Kovarian and other torture mechanisms that it was a lost cause trying to remember what the Sapling could and couldn't remember. In lamens terms, her brain was tired.

"Don't worry Ava," the Doctor got a sense of where her thoughts were running to. Lately, he'd been getting the feeling like his and her memories were just a tad fuzzier than the normal amount caused by the Sapling. It was, admittedly, a long time since the Sapling was created and it meant that he had kept the Doctor's and Avalon's memories for a much longer period than either expected.

The Doctor was getting the feeling that his brain was beginning to try and compensate for the missing memories. He presumed it was the same for Avalon but because of Kovarian's interference, the feelings had to be heightened.

"So what is that thing anyways?" Avalon motioned to the metal helmet again.

"It's the Chameleon Arch," the Doctor let the device rise back into its spot above the console. "It's exactly what it sounds like. Helps a Time Lord disguise them self into anything. Last time I used it, I made myself human!"

"You could do that?" Avalon gaped, her eyes widening at the thought.

"Yup!"

"Were you trying to switch again, then?" The Sapling cocked his head to the side curiously.

"Not exactly. I've been noticing there's some gaps in my head. I've, uh, been forgetting things…"

Avalon stiffened. "The Silence?" It was fairly quick how the color in her face drained. Had they found a way to continue messing with them after all? They'd been so careful not to let their guard down but the fact the Silence made you forget would always be the weakening point.

"No, no, Ava, don't worry," the Doctor brought her into a hug. He definitely knew where her thoughts went to now. "No one's touching you, I swear."

Despite her efforts to appear brave, Avalon let herself be wrapped in his arms. She felt so small whenever she thought about the Silence and what they did, what Kovarian did. She still had a long way before she truly recovered.

The Sapling moved on over to hug them as well. He took every chance he got to hug them, much to his parents' amusement. "You're safe, Mother," he assured her just like the Doctor.

"Can I be honest, though?" Avalon's question came in the form of a whisper.

"Of course," the Doctor nodded and pulled away from her.

"You say...that you've forgotten things?" She watched him nod again. "I-I kind of feel the same and it's not just because of the things Kovarian wiped. I feel...like there's something _before_ Demons Run that I've forgotten. And then...I don't know, I feel like there's something kind of...watching us."

"Yes!" The Doctor snapped his fingers at her, regretting it the moment she flinched. "Sorry. I meant to say that I feel the same way."

"Do you think it's still the Silence? Some lingering effects?"

"It's been a long time," the Doctor mumbled in thought. "But I get the feeling that whatever is watching us will be revealing itself to us very soon."

"Just as long as it's not Kovarian," Avalon felt her skin crawl at the image of seeing the woman again. "When I see her again I want to do it with all my brains so I can shoot her dead."

The Doctor watched her silently, sadly, knowing that she had to be _that_ afraid to truly want to kill someone. He wanted to kill Kovarian and all her Silence for hurting Avalon. He wasn't scared, he was _angry_ , but Avalon was afraid. She was so afraid.

Before he could try to comfort Avalon, Amy and Rory joined them from the corridors. They were eager to see where they would be heading out for today. Each day, they'd been exposing Avalon to new environments to see how her immunity system would take it. They were so grateful to see their granddaughter reacting fine to each trip. It was almost as if she was completely normal.

"Now that's interesting…" the Doctor said just as Rory wondered out loud where they would be taking Avalon. He drifted towards the monitor, prompting Avalon to do the same and eventually the Sapling. They were like a little domino effect and they didn't even realize it.

"What are we looking at?" Avalon cocked her head to the side when she saw the odd readings on the monitor. She was sure that they weren't even in their language!

"Time Vortex energy!" the Doctor gawked.

"Oh my God!" They heard Amy yelp and when they followed her gaze, they all did the same.

The Sapling's neck had elongated to do a semi-curl and move his face closer to the monitor.

"Sapling, stop doing that!" Avalon screeched with the same horror she usually did when the Sapling pulled that stunt. Lately, it'd been happening more and more. He would stretch parts of his body for whatever reason that presented itself.

The Doctor theorized it meant the Sapling was beginning to mature, an act that prompted Avalon to joke and tell him he had to give the Sapling ' _the_ talk'. While the Doctor stammered for a good ten minutes, he also made Avalon realize that the closer the Sapling got to maturing the more danger they could all be in if he decided to follow into his ancestors' primal instinct.

Destroy worlds.

"Time Vortex energy?" Rory moved over with Amy to the monitor. "Isn't that where we are right now?"

"It's coming from a planet in the Ligotti Tract," the Doctor read off from the monitor.

"Zoline, perhaps?" The Sapling asked.

There was a funny look on the Doctor's face when he tried to think of the place. "Zoline...excellent. Um…can't quite remember it."

"But I can!" The Sapling cheered. "Because I have the memories!"

That was great.

"Don't worry! I love that place!" The Doctor zipped to the other side of the console, working fervently to get them to the planet. "Least I think it was!"

"That doesn't sound very promising," Amy made a face but the Doctor was already bringing them to Zoline.

"I'm sure it is! Come along Ponds!" the Doctor exclaimed, internally laughing with his joke. He could truly say it now and mean _all_ of his companions, if only Avalon would know.

"And me!" Avalon rushed to his side, taking his hand. She chuckled at the blush that sprouted on the Doctor's face. Their relationship was still a secret from Amy and Rory and since the Doctor was so worried about what they would say, Avalon thought that 'easing them' into the idea of a relationship would help out when the time came to say the truth. Although she secretly thought that maybe Amy and Rory already had some idea because sometimes they acted just a bit nonchalant about their hand holding and closeness.

"Let's go!" The Sapling zoomed by all of them, heading straight for the doors.

The rest followed and stepped out of the TARDIS to find a gray city full of smoke.

"This, uh, this doesn't look very pre…" Amy started to feel a funny tickle in her throat. Beside her, Rory was bringing a hand to his throat because of the same tickle.

"This can't be ri…" the Doctor cleared his throat several times. Even the Sapling was having trouble breathing.

Avalon reacted worse than all of them. She went into a full coughing fit. The Doctor could see her from the corner of his eye. He reached over for her, intending on practically shoving her into the TARDIS. The air was _terrible_.

"Doctor! Nothing to worry about, just a slight air quality!" A male dressed in green robes (and wearing a funny tall green hat that seemed to have pipes sticking out from it) ran towards the group. He also wore a transparent green face mask.

Two more robed men came behind him and strapped the same masks to each of the travelers.

"Price of progress I'm afraid!" The same male continued as the travelers got their normal air back.

The Doctor immediately checked Avalon with the sonic to make sure the bad air quality hadn't left effects that would hinder the progress she was making. Her lungs were clear of permanent danger and, thankfully, she was breathing normally again.

"I'm fine," she mumbled to him. The Doctor wished he could kiss her but now there were masks between them apart from, well, other people.

"What kind of place is this!?" Rory was outraged after he could properly breathe again. This was not the place to bring Avalon around!

"I'm Pfortner," one of the men dressed in gray introduced himself. "His excellency imperator Bax's chief Sycophant. Sorry about the informality of the welcome but we only had minutes to prepare once the TARDIS' energy signature was detected."

"It's so good to see you old friend," the man in green looked specifically at the Doctor, but the Time Lord was having trouble placing him. "Well...surely you remember me Doctor. I'm Bax! Imperator of Zoline and her Moons! We seduced Quantum Kelp together off the coast of Revok!"

"Seduced _who_ now?" Avalon shot a sharp look at the Doctor, one that genuinely sparked a bit of fear in him.

"You survived a cage match with my first born son's placenta!"

"He did what!?" Both Amy and Rory chorused together, shooting the Doctor the same wide-eyed look.

The Doctor didn't like being the center of attention for once. He had no idea what the green robed man was talking about and it seemed to be getting him into trouble with Avalon. He needed to put a stop to it before she smacked him. "That all sounds very _me_ but the thing is, that handsome little chap over there-" he pointed to the Sapling who was busy staring up at the smoky skies, "-is currently in possession of a couple of my memories. I don't remember being here."

Knowing he was being talked about, the Sapling moved over to properly greet the green robed man. He knelt down on one knee, amusing the travelers for a moment, as he properly introduced himself. "Greetings Imperator Bax. May your fronds shoulder the sky."

"May your fronds shoulder the sky - have we met?" Bax looked at the Sapling with bemusement, still not understanding what was going on.

"No your excellency. But I remember meeting you all the same. My father is sadly diminished-"

The Doctor's face scrunched into offence, much more when Avalon, Amy and Rory snickered around him. "Rude!"

"-but I can recall his time here perfectly," the Sapling finished and raised his head to reveal a grin.

"Father?" Bax's eyes widened in surprise. "I was not aware you had a child, Doctor."

"And my Mother," the Sapling gestured to the curly-haired ginger beside the Doctor.

"It's not what you think," Avalon quickly shook her head before any presumptions were spoken.

But before any comments could be made about the situation, there was a rumble in the sky. Everyone looked up to see something green coming down on them.

"Quickrain!" one of the gray robed men exclaimed. "Run, your excellency!"

"What? What the heck is 'quickrain'?" Amy made a face when the man took Bax away in a hasty run.

"OW!" Rory suddenly flinched when the green rain dropped on him. It was rain….but with acid. "That _hurt_!"

"Ow!" Avalon was next on the list and the final one before the Doctor pulled them into a run.

This was definitely the wrong place for his Ava! They followed Bax and his men into a building but they'd still suffered sustainable acid over their skin.

"Earth's acid rain doesn't get anywhere near this corrosive until the mid-21st century," the Doctor remarked as he turned his palms over to see the reddened blotches on his skin.

"Rory, I'm fine! Stop it!" Avalon was fighting off both him and Amy trying to see if her skin was reacting worse than theirs. "Seriously!"

"Mother…?" the Sapling squeezed himself through his grandparents to see Avalon's reddened skin, but he also allowed Avalon to see his.

"Oh my God," she shooed Amy and Rory away and cupped the Sapling's head. "Look at you! Your skin is all red!"

"I will heal, mother," the Sapling assured her but Avalon still called for the Doctor.

"Is he really going to be okay?" She asked while the Doctor let the sonic scan him. Like everyone else, the Sapling's skin was only irritated.

"Just fine," he assured her. He was relieved to know it too.

"But it shouldn't be like this!" The Sapling exclaimed. He pointed an aggressive finger towards Bax. "We must know what has transpired here! The Zoline are not an industrialized people! They're tree dwellers!"

Didn't look like there were much trees out there," Rory mumbled to Amy who nodded in agreement. The city barely looked like it had a sun. Actually, they weren't sure if they saw one now that they thought about it. It was all so gray and smoky!

"Primitives!" Bax huffed. "We left all that behind years ago, creature!"

"Hey!" Avalon snapped at him. "You watch how you address my son!"

"Behold my Imperial Palace! A miracle of engineering and leak management!" Bax gestured to the building they were in. He raised his hands up, making the group realized it was several, several floors high.

But it was all gray.

And slimy green.

It all looked icky like they were in a rundown factory.

"Every expense was spared in its construction!" Bax exclaimed with a proud smile and yet the Sapling looked sO so sad, and terrified.

The Doctor noted it and turned the Sapling to him. "What is it, Sapling?" he crouched in front of the child.

The Sapling's eyes glistened. "I remember Imperator Bax. He was a wise ruler. This was not how the place looked like before." He could vividly remember the Zoline his father visited before. It was all so bright and green and...natural. It was _nature_. Such an abundance of nature that peace was just one of the common effects one would feel when visiting it. "It was like a beautiful fairy tale forest that Mother would like. The Zoline you met were barely past the hunter-gatherer stage. That was less than 30 years ago."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "Fourth dimensional skulduggery may be afoot there."

"Would it really kill you to speak in English?" Avalon frowned at him. "I mean-"

The building shook like an earthquake was striking. The same green liquid that the acid rain was made of came so rushing down like a waterfall.

"Relax everyone!" Bax raised his hands to calm them down. "Everything's fine! It's just the Golden Triangle conducting one of their experiments!"

"Watch out!" Rory lunged to get Bax out of the way before the green waterfall fell over him.

"Avalon!" The Doctor did the same with the ginger who'd been second on the list of accidental contamination. He shrouded her with his body but somewhere along the way Avalon started feeling like _he_ was the one in need of protecting. His body was shaking and he groaned in pain.

"Doctor, what's wrong?" Avalon wiggled out of his arms, not that he noticed because as soon as she was free he clutched his head and chest.

"Father!" the Sapling rushed to help him as well.

"I'm not...feeling too clever, truth be told!" The Doctor raised his head to reveal a strong golden glow in his eyes that seemed to pour out of him. At first instinct, Avalon pulled the Sapling away.

"What is going on!?" Amy turned on Bax for a full explanation of what was causing this.

The Doctor lost his balance and fell to his knees. The golden energy around him got stronger, blinding the others for a moment.

"Fairy Tale Man!" Avalon cried and rushed towards him only for Rory to pull her back.

"T-th-the Time V-Vortex energies!" The Doctor managed to say in-between his groans. "My b-b-body's saturated with it, so…" He sucked in multiple sharp breaths, "Temporal t-tremors tend to-to- shake it all up like a can of pop!" He raised his head to meet Bax's terrified face. "Where are you keeping it!?" Everyone turned on the Imperator. "Where are you keeping the Time Lord technology!?"

"I have no idea what you're…" Bax was in the middle of denying it when the Doctor collapsed completely.

"LET GO!" Avalon shouted and shoved Rory to the side to hurry up to the Doctor. She dropped to her knees beside his body and listened for a heartbeat. Thankfully, she heard the two but he was completely out cold. "We need to get him somewhere so he can rest!"

"I'll get my personal physician for him," Bax offered and while the group was thankful for it, it didn't save him from the stand off with Avalon.

She had gotten up and stormed right up to him. "You better hope that he wakes up fine because if not _I'll_ make sure you wish you were still a primitive as you said."

"Ava," Rory pulled her away but he honestly knew that there was no making her back down. He only wanted her to calm down and not hurt herself.

~ 0 ~

The next time the Doctor woke up, he found himself in a lovely room and a soft bed under him. He sat up with a groan, only getting a minute before someone gently stroked the tips of his hair. He knew that hand anywhere! A big grin came to his face even though his head was hurting like mad.

"Fairy Tale Man, are you alright?" Avalon was sitting beside him on the bed, her eyes full of concern for him.

"Who stuffed my skull with socks from the lost and found?"

"That's a weird thing to say, father," the Sapling giggled from the foot of his bed.

"Where am I?" The Doctor said after gaining a bit more lucidity.

"In some fancy guest room of the Imperial palace," Avalon explained with a mutter. Bax could give them all the fanciest things he had but it wouldn't make her like him.

"The Imperator put you in here because there's air filtration on the whole floor," the Sapling added.

"Amy...Rory…?" The Doctor soon noticed the couple was missing and panicked until Avalon shushed him.

"They just went to see if they could get Bax to talk about whatever is causing this to you. I really didn't like what I saw, what was that?"

"I need to find it first," the Doctor said as he moved to get out of the bed.

"You can't!" Avalon hurried to keep him down.

"Ava, I _have_ to! Something Time Lord is out there! It's my responsibility to find it!"

Avalon bit her lower lip and watched him continue his efforts to get up despite his body being too weak to do it on his own right now. She was scared that this would turn into another House moment. It could all be a trick that would end up hurting the Doctor. But she knew that no matter what the Doctor would be doing it anyways. She would have to ready herself for whatever was going on.

With a sigh, she got up and helped the Doctor stand up with the Sapling doing the same. Together, they brought the Doctor out of the room where they met Amy and Rory, along with another man, Pfortner, from earlier.

"Did you get anything?" Avalon asked the pair.

"Just this guy," Rory pointed at the man then winced. "Sorry."

"It's alright," Pfortner said. He didn't look too pleased either. It was why Amy and Rory were able to convince him to come talk to the Doctor. Bax wasn't letting anything slip. "Look, I'd be lying if I told you that most of us didn't find the recent tremors a tad discombobulating. Still the Golden Triangle insist that they're perfectly normal. No 'Time Lord' energy is involved."

"That's the…" the Doctor groaned again, "...second time you've mentioned this 'Golden Triangle', Pfortner. What are they? Or...who are they?"

Pfortner smiled kindly, and genuinely. "Oh, they're simply divine. Their genius rivals even yours, Doctor. Three inventors whose break-throughs - so revolutionary, so numerous...led us out of the timeless forest into an age of industry. Nobody knows where they came from or who they were before, but to us they became known as 'the Golden Triangle'. His excellency would never admit it but they are the real power on this world."

"Hmm, I don't suppose anybody ever conducted a medical examination of these chappies, did they?" The Doctor muttered. He didn't want to get that hopeful but all the signs were there. Maybe this time wasn't a trick. Just maybe...

"Not that I know of, why?"

"Well, to ascertain how many _hearts_ they have for starts. Ponds, we're we're leaving!"

"Doctor, we agree but you still need to - GET BACK HERE!" Avalon screamed when the Doctor raced away from them.

"Where is he going!?" Pfortner asked but none of the group seemed to know. Still, they chased after him.

The Doctor snagged a facemask off the first person he met in his run, and with an apology, he went on outside. He had to go out there and find...find whatever Time Lords were out there. It was fairly easy for the rest of the travelers to catch up to him. He wasn't that fast yet but it didn't save him from the smack Avalon gave him.

"You shouldn't be out here!" She angrily said, grabbing his arm but still letting him lead to wherever it was he needed to go.

" _You_ shouldn't be!" He argued. Despite her wearing the mask again, he wasn't comfortable with her exposure to such a horrendous city.

"We're all doing this," Avalon looked back at Amy and Rory. They agreed and helped the Doctor on his other side. The Sapling came beside his mother.

They walked together until they saw a building with a strange golden design on its front. It was a circle with dozens of lines inside it. It was also the building that lost a good chunk of its top after getting struck by a big pink blob.

"Don't you see?" The Doctor swallowed hard, willing the others to keep going straight for it. "There's only one rational explanation for what we're seeing. The Gallifreyan symbol clinches it! If this 'golden triangle' have Time Lord technology, then that means one of them might be…"

They walked into the building only to be targeted by multiple red dots.

"Oh c'mon," Amy sighed. They had _just_ walked in and there were five people already waiting to shoot them!?

"This is as far as you go, Doctor," one of the guards said. "Pfortner warned us you were en route. The Golden Triangle were very explicit: they're not to be disturbed during their experiments."

"Look, I'm feeling a bit peaky so I'll keep it short," the Doctor shuffled a bit to find his sonic. "It may have escaped your notice, but the top of your building just fell off!"

Their response was to point more red dots on him and the others.

"Keep talking, it's going great," Rory shot him a look.

"C'mon, it's a diagnostic thingummy see!" The Doctor waved his sonic in the air. "It's harmless!" He scanned the immediate area for show but did get some interesting results along the way. "Except it's telling me you're going to have to worry about a lot more than this building if you don't let me talk to this Golden Triangle! How would you like to _not_ die in the very near future?"

"Don't be idiots please," Avalon added with a flat face. Thankfully, they spared them the more dramatic parts of the standoff and stepped aside. They were brought into the elevator to finally meet the Golden Triangle.

"It may be temporal bends talking but...is that Kenny G I can hear?" the Doctor mumbled to the group on their way up.

"Yeah, actually," Amy made a face when she heard the familiar tune.

"Thirty billion light years from Earth and I still can't escape smooth...jazz," he blinked though when he started to wonder how nice it would be to have a nice jazz date with Avalon. They would have such a lovely time together, dancing to the jazz music. She was all about the music, after all.

The elevator dinged open like a regular Earth elevator. As it slid open its doors, a soft, warm golden glow slipped in. The Doctor's mouth fell open at the sight before them. Little by little, the same happened to the others.

"I'm not allowed visitors. Are you here to watch the end of the world with us?" A young female Time Lady sat across from them with three robed people behind her. She wore the red robes and golden armor that the Doctor recognized so well.

Everyone behind the Doctor was frozen in their spots. The Time Lady wasn't just a Time Lady...she was _child._ She appeared to be like a ten year old in Earth terms. Still, there were noticeable differences between her and a human child. For starters, there was something funny going on with one of her eyes. The right eye was completely white and the more the group stared, the clearer the scars on the right side of her face got. A chunk of her hair was missing on the same side as well.

"Go get the TARDIS," the Doctor immediately ordered, startling the group of their thoughts.

"What? No! We're not...we're not leaving you," Avalon frowned at him. Yes, the Time Lady turned out to be a child but who's to say it wasn't a trap? The Doctor was in no condition to be on his own.

"I'll be fine. But I'm gonna need my TARDIS." The Doctor wasn't sure what was going on but something warned him that he would require his TARDIS for whatever reason.

Amy and Rory suspected that beyond the TARDIS, the Doctor wanted a moment alone with the child. No matter what, she still _looked_ like a Time Lord. And the Doctor was still the Doctor.

"We'll be back," Rory said while Amy reached over for Avalon and the Sapling.

Avalon still resisted Amy's pull but she stopped when the Doctor held out his sonic to her. "Why are you giving me that?"

"So you can follow the signal back to the TARDIS _and_ because it gives you a reason to come back to me," the Doctor offered her a knowing smile that, even though she _didn't_ want to, got her to smile for him. He wasn't leaving her nor sending her away like he tried to do to Amy and Rory when they were in the pocket universe.

"Please be careful," she whispered as she took the sonic from him. He nodded at her, at least silently promising he would do his best. These were one of the moments she wished she could kiss and hug him. One of these days she might just skip over the 'easing Amy and Rory into the idea' thing and kiss her Doctor whenever she wanted. But for now, she gripped his sonic in her hand and let Amy pull her back towards the elevator.

Despite her reluctance, Avalon let Amy take her away.

~0~

"I'm not sure that was a good idea," Avalon huffed on their way into the TARDIS. The Doctor's sonic was lead them right to the blue box.

"Either way, he didn't want us in there," Amy said, keeping a tight hold around Avalon's arm despite knowing that if she really wanted to, Avalon could rip away with ease. They truly understood now that Avalon's 'freakish' strength wasn't freaky at all. It's a natural part of her unique DNA.

"I'm sure Father can handle it," the Sapling chimed in to cheer his Mother up. "The Time Lady is a child."

"Doesn't mean she's not a weapon," Avalon muttered before it truly hit her. Her eyes widened as she looked over to Amy and Rory. "I'm sorry! I meant…"

"We know what you meant, Ava," Rory assured her. Their daughter was part Time Lady and it was used as means to weaponize her.

"I'm just scared that it's still going to happen," Avalon admitted. She found it easier to share with them than the Doctor. He didn't know what they had seen at Lake Silencio. "The Silence are still out there and since they don't have neither me or River, who's to say they didn't come up with something else?"

"I think this is something completely different," Amy said. They were picking up their speed and could already see their blue box from a distance. "If this had been the Silence, they would've done something on the spot. I think we've angered them all a bit too much for them to be patient again."

"Let's just get the TARDIS back to the Doctor and hopefully clear all this mess up so we can go!" Rory was on the urgent plan that they really needed to leave. This was a terrible place for his granddaughter who was only just healing. He didn't want to see her have a setback.

"Right," Avalon bit her lip and turned to the console, her eyes lingering on the Time Rotor. She handed the Sapling the sonic, once she made sure he understood he was not to play with it, and started working the controls.

Her grandparents had the time of their lives watching her hands smoothly glide over the controls like she practically owned the TARDIS. Of course the TARDIS was letting her work like she was a pilot, because Avalon practically was. Amy and Rory wondered if Avalon truly realized just how much the TARDIS had bonded with her in these last months. It was touching, really.

The TARDIS had separated all of Avalon's favorite rooms again since there was no need to keep her in bed all day, but she still only put them in separate rooms in the _same_ hallway as Avalon's bedroom. Her piano room, the media room and the library were all just seconds from her bedroom. Avalon had no idea why the TARDIS was that involved in making her life easier but she loved the attention. She took it as ' _I'm the TARDIS' favorite_ ' and she _was_.

She just didn't know how much deeper it went.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor felt his head pounding as if someone was actually hitting him with bricks. Little by little, it got stronger and he had a pretty good idea of why it was.

The Time child, who had introduced herself as Orphan, stopped talking when she heard the Doctor mumble something under his breath. Even she knew he wasn't looking well. "Are you okay, Doctor?" She leaned forwards on her seat.

The Doctor seemed to be sinking away in his chair. He brought a hand to his forehead and rubbed circles over it. "Yes, yes, I'm fine. Nothing to worry about. Just a... _very_ minor anoxic seizure. Where were we, Orphan?"

"You were asking me about my memories."

"Ah, yes! What's the very first thing you remember?"

"War," the child said distantly. "I remember war."

"War, that makes sense," the Doctor sucked in a breath and leaned forwards to meet the child's face.

Orphan didn't seem to remember a lot about Gallifrey, much less about herself. She suffered a type of amnesia but the Doctor was fairly sure there was something else going on, he just needed his sonic first. She remembered the planet's environment, its people, but when the Doctor asked her specific questions about _herself_ , she went blank. She seemed kind, she seemed...like a child. She was a very mature child, more than the Sapling was. That was normal given Orphan's age. She was a bit past 100...she couldn't remember the exact number. And she genuinely wanted to remember who she was.

The TARDIS materialized outside the room, just as the Doctor hoped. He had barely gotten up from his chair, albeit wobbly, when the doors opened and allowed the others in.

Avalon came rushing in first, once again holding the sonic in her hand. "You're not supposed to stand!"

The Doctor playfully rolled his eyes. He supposed this was how everyone was acting with her. He could understand the annoyance that came with it. "Thanks Ava, but I'm fine." He took the sonic from her and turned back to Orphan.

"So...what's happening?" Amy quietly asked while they watched him sonic Orphan. The child sat motionless, only blinking at the sonic in front of her.

"Do you know who I am, then?" The child asked when the Doctor pulled the sonic away, taking a look at the readings he'd gotten. "You said there was a possibility that we might be related."

Everyone behind the Doctor went wide-eyed. _Could_ they be related? Could it be…

"Is that one of his kids?" Rory whispered _very_ quietly to Amy. They knew that the Doctor had once had children of his own and that they died as adults in the War…

...or so the Doctor thought.

Avalon swallowed hard and stepped back. What if the child really was _his_? That would be wonderful news for him, that one of his children had survived...but that left a lot of questions. Did it mean the child had regenerated _into_ a child during the War? And if so, why was it only now that the TARDIS picked up on their signal? It was all just a bit too odd.

"I'm sorry Orphan, would you excuse us for just a minute?" The Doctor smiled at the child and turned to the others, his smile dropping. They needed to follow him.

"Doctor, where are we going now?" Amy asked as they crossed through the doors.

"I need to see the Golden Triangle _now_!"

"Right, but what about her?" Avalon stopped him for a moment. She suspected he was on his fast pace plans again and his body wasn't quite up to it. "Is she...you know...your daughter?"

"Do I have a sister, Father!?" The Sapling beamed at the idea of having a sister. The could have so much fun together!

The Doctor visibly tensed. "I need to see the Golden Triangle," he repeated.

Avalon inwardly sighed. He wasn't going to tell them one bit until he talked to those people. "Fine. But please don't run. You still look sick!"

"I feel sick," he corrected as if it was a point for him.

"So you need to slow down," Rory exclaimed, his nurse side coming out.

"Quite the opposite Rory, I need to be faster! It's the Temporal Quakes! If they don't stop soon then my body will try to regenerate! And the problem with that-"

"-besides the fact you'll be regenerating?" Avalon folded her arms over her chest. What more could there be than that!?

"Well...I don't really _have_ any regenerations left."

Avalon's eyes widened. _That_. That was worse! Her arms dropped to her sides out of shock. "What...what do you mean you don't...you don't have _any_ left!? You said you could regenerate!"

The Doctor cursed himself for choosing this moment to have that type of talk with her. There were _so_ many things he needed to discuss with Avalon now that he knew who she was and who her family was...but it just wasn't easy. How could he bring up his regeneration count? Her _mother''s_ own life?

"Doctor, you're kidding right?" Amy asked, trying to ease up the tension with what she hoped would be the beginning of ' _Of course I am, Pond_ '...but it wasn't.

"Father is telling the truth," the Sapling spoke up. "He only has 12 regenerations and he is at the end of the cycle."

"Thank you Sapling," the Doctor sarcastically smiled at the child. He was trying to be delicate about it but the Sapling, really being just a child, couldn't see that. "Avalon...I didn't know how to tell, there was no right time with everything…"

Avalon shook her head, pushing away everything that she was thinking to focus on the most important thing right now: keeping him alive. Because if he stayed alive then she could kill him afterwards for not telling her about the regenerations

"Let's go," she snagged his hand and pulled him down the corridors.

They found the Golden Triangle in the only room with its door wide open. They were waiting for the group, or more so the Doctor.

"We're delighted that you've finally deigned to meet with us, Doctor," one of the trio said as the group walked into the room. "The Golden Triangle is always happy to meet a peer."

"Yes, even one who dismisses us from our own conference room," the second of the trio said somewhat sourly. The Doctor hadn't been too kind asking them to leave him alone with Orphan.

"I am Beaback, Doctor," the only female of the trio introduced herself. "Such a pleasure."

"And I am Sendham," the first male went next. "We met when I was just a boy actually."

The Doctor didn't remember that detail.

"Shriven," the last of the trio said. "Are you enjoying our friend? She's been helping us with our experiments for some time now."

"Yes, yes, charmed. Which one of you gave her the name 'Orphan'?" the Doctor started going around the room on his wobbly feet, trying to find something the others weren't sure of.

"Ah, it's the only thing she could remember when we found her injured in the forest all those years ago," Beaback said.

"Lovely story," the Doctor's sarcasm was very noticeable. He was shooting down everything they were telling them. "An amnesiac Time Lord foundling...kindly scientists. Shame it's all poppycock of course."

Avalon watched the trio go from outrage to shifty in two seconds. "Oh, are you lying?" She smirked. "Somebody just got caught."

"How dare you!" Senhdam exclaimed but the Doctor paid him no attention. He had found what he was looking for. The sonic had found a hidden compartment in the wall.

"What are you doing, Father?" the Sapling scurried over to him while he pushed the compartment open.

The Doctor reached inside to pull out a small pyramid with silver metal outlining it. "Oh you silly, _silly_ , sausages. You have no idea what this is, do you?"

"None of us do, actually," Rory pointed that out for him.

None of them noticed a small figure peeking their head into the room.

"What about Orphan? Does she know?" the Doctor demanded from the Golden Triangle.

"Know what?" Avalon dreaded to ask, but they would need to know anyways.

"That she's not _real_."

"What?" A child's voice asked, claiming the entire group's attention. Orphan had found them and had tears pooling in her eyes. "I'm not...real?"

"Oh Orphan, I'm so sorry!" The Doctor exclaimed and moved towards her only to feel that same pain course through his body. The same golden energy was striking the right side of Orphan's face, sparking up into the air.

"Not again!" Avalon rushed to help the Doctor stay on his feet, but she had to take away the pyramid and hand it to the Sapling instead.

"Orphan! You don't need...ah! Orphan!" the Doctor extended a hand towards her but she was already turning away.

"Help me!" Avalon motioned to Amy and Rory. The Doctor was slouching in his attempt to chase after the girl. Between all of them, they brought him into the hallways after Orphan.

The child was nearing the TARDIS but she stopped. Her body was flickering. She raised her left hand and saw it...disappearing?

"Why does she look like that?" Amy crinkled her nose. It almost appeared like she was losing her hand in bits that kept disappearing in the air...like she was disintegrating.

"I...I know this box," Orphan said at the sight of the TARDIS. "I don't understand I'm _real_!"

"Of course you're real," the Doctor said once they were behind her. "You're just...not like me. You're not like anyone. Trust me, that's not the first time I see it happen." He had someone just like that helping him stand and she had no idea.

"Father, do you need this?" The Sapling presumed once the Doctor had straightened up on his feet, though he was still a bit rockish.

"Yes!" He moved towards Orphan and gently turned her around, making her face the pyramid and the others. The Golden Triangle had come after them but remained a cautious distance from them.

"What _is_ that thing?" Orphan stared at the pyramid in fear.

"It's...well, it's you, Orphan," the Doctor said, gently bringing her a bit closer to it. "You're the user interface for it."

The closer Orphan got to the pyramid the brighter her body became. The others had to shield their eyes every now and then.

"It's a...weapon. A terrible Time Lord weapon," the Doctor swallowed hard. It was far too similar to the Moment. Even its structure resembled it. "The Orphaned Hour was part of the Time Lords' Omega Arsenal. It was deployed during the Time War. It worked by hurling everything within a defined radius back in _time_. Imagine being able to make an advancing army disappear simply by resetting your surroundings. Wildly destructive even in the right hands. The weapon was designed to protect users from its effects, but they were still vulnerable to the _external threats_. Last I heard, the Orphaned Hour had been damaged in the war. It - _you_ \- must have been flung clear of the…"

The Doctor shut his eyes terribly hard. _He_ used the Moment, he needed to accept that and own up to each time it came up. He used the Moment and just before chaos descended, the Orphaned Hour must have been thrown off planet and landed in Zoline.

Orphan gingerly took the pyramid from the Sapling and held it with shaky arms. She was _glowing_. "I'm... _I'm_ not a weapon!" she frowned. "I feel! I think!" She let the Sapling take the pyramid back and turned to the Golden Triangle, eyes blazing with fury. "Is this true!?"

"Ah, well...its complicated," Bearback said nervously.

"You said you were my friends!"

"Of course we're your friends, Orphan! You've known us since were children! We treat you like a princess!"

"Oh, shut up!" snapped Avalon, shooting a similar glare at the trio like Orphan. "That is _not_ how you treat a princess! Actually, that might not be as true. You _do_ , you just treat her like Rapunzel. Keeping her locked away."

"Preposterous!" Sendham snapped.

"Yeah?" she arched an eyebrow. "How many times have you let her go outside? Out of the room we found her in?"

Silence.

"Mhm. She's like a caged bird and _you_ are the evil stepmother, only worse!"

"It sounds like you just used her," Amy frowned.

"Because they _did_ ," the Doctor reiterated, feeling terrible when Orphan looked back at him with fresh tears in her golden eyes. "You three found a broken magic box that magically resets your world every, what...thirty years? You correctly deduced that close proximity to the Orphaned Hour would protect you from its effects. Then every time this planet got reset by a few decades, you kept the technological innovations made by others during the last cycle. You claimed these innovations as your own and then waited for real geniuses to build on them so you could steal their ideas too and so on. Finally, you invested in life-extension tech so you could continue fleecing these poor people indefinitely, isn't that right? Zoline's great minds? Don't make me _laugh_! You're cheap con artists who lucked into the ultimate scan!"

"Uh, Doctor…?" Rory was the first to catch the Doctor's flashing gold. Avalon and Amy each gasped when the same gold spread over his body.

"Unfortunately for you, this gizmo wasn't designed to be triggered multiple times. You're lucks run out. This broken bomb's gonna blow!"

"So let it _go_!" Avalon snapped when the Doctor took it from the Sapling hands. He groaned and fell to his knees with it. "Dammit, Doctor!" She ran to help him stand with Amy's help while Rory and the Sapling took Orphan's weakened self.

The Doctor pointed them towards the TARDIS so they helped them in. "You lot better not move!" He yelled to the remaining trio behind.

The trio huddled together as another tremor shook the ground. A few seconds later, the TARDIS doors re-opened only for a book to be thrown directly _at_ them. It fell to the ground where it remained until the Doctor stepped under the doorway and pointed at it.

"Pick it _up_ ," he ordered with gritted teeth. "Come on, chop chop!"

Shriven grabbed the book off the ground and opened it up to a random page. "I...I can't read this!"

_Carbon Sequestration For Children: A Beginner's Guide_ was freshly printed on the title cover.

"It's p-printed on semi-psychic paper!" the Doctor clutched his chest with one hand. "Give it a few seconds and it'll translate into your language."

"What are we supposed to do with this!?"

"You have the money and the resources, so you're going to - ah! - roll up your sleeves and fix this mess _yourselves_! No resets, no do-overs!" He wouldn't tell them he'd be checking up on them later on to see their progress. They would most likely wait for him to come and fix everything and he was _not_ going to do that!

"That book's a got a cool pop-up section!" The Sapling poked his head from around the Doctor. "I love it!"

"Doctor!" Avalon called from inside.

"Fix it!" The Doctor left the Golden Triangle with those parting words. He let the doors close behind him as he rushed to the console.

Orphan was continuing to disintegrate.

"What's happening to Orphan?" Rory asked once the Doctor joined them. He would try to be a nurse once he knew what the problem was exactly.

"The weapon's disintegrating which means _she_ is too!" The Doctor ushered them away from her, leaving only himself around.

The TARDIS hummed a second before a lever on the console was pushed down. She was bringing them back to space, off Zoline.

"Did the TARDIS just move us?" Amy blinked. Funny, the box _hadn't_ rocked them this time. The Doctor truly was that bad of a driver.

"Yes, but…" the Doctor groaned, lurching forwards.

"The weapon!" The Sapling gasped at the pyramid. A fierce golden light was slicing through the thing.

"Doctor!" Avalon forgot all about staying away when she saw the Doctor collapsed on the ground. "N-n-n-n-no! You gotta get up!"

"He's dying!" Amy frantically looked at Rory but neither of them knew what to do.

"Shut up, no he's not!" Avalon had heard that _far_ too many times in this year alone. _Why_ was the universe so hell bent on taking him away from her? From the entire world!?

Orphan picked up the pyramid from the ground and desperately looked over to Amy and Rory. "Please...I don't want to hurt anybody. What do I do?"

Neither could answer her but the TARDIS could. The console shined bright in a white light, pulling the Orphan's attention. "What?" It was like she could understand what the box was trying to tell her. She gave a firm nod. "Yes...yes of course. The Heart of the TARDIS."

Hearing those familiar words made Avalon raise her head from the Doctor. "No, wait! I know that!" But the Orphan was already coming towards the console.

"Don't...don't let her…" the Doctor struggled to get up. He felt terrible (apart from his biological pain) using Avalon like a pillar to stand up, but he couldn't let Orphan get any closer.

"Will it hurt…?" Orphan seemed like she wasn't even in-tuned to their world. She was in a little bubble, talking to the TARDIS who kept calling her forwards.

"Orphan, you can't do that!" The Doctor argued once he was back on his feet but try as he might, he couldn't get closer.

"It'll kill you too!" Avalon exclaimed. Orphan's body was already more than half disintegrated.

"The TARDIS says this is the only way to keep everyone safe," Orphan reasoned. "I am _not_ a weapon for destruction. I can do _good_." Her voice started to echo as her body truly began to lose form and turn into white particles. "I think...I would have enjoyed being a Time Lord, Doctor. Shame."

"Orphan, no!"

The Sapling wrapped his branch arms around the Doctor to keep him in his spot. They _couldn't_ get any closer without getting hurt themselves. Orphan was sacrificing herself for them! They couldn't let it be in vain! Soon, the white light faded and it was like nothing happened.

"Sapling, let me go!" The Doctor untangled himself from the branches but wasn't free until the Sapling listened. "I could've fixed this!"

"It didn't look like that," Amy frowned at him. "You were dying too!"

"I could've done something!"

" _No_ , you couldn't have!" Avalon stepped towards him. She wasn't going to stand there and let him blame _them_ for something the Zolines did and much more for wanting to keep him safe and alive! "You were dying if you forgot!"

No, of course he hadn't forgotten. That was still a pending conversation to have with her. The console suddenly sparked, starling all of them, before a wicked groaning came from the Time Rotor.

"What...was that?" Rory asked slowly.

The Doctor hurried up to the console to find the problem. "Well...the TARDIS just euthanized the Orphaned Hour by absorbing it into her core. I don't think she thought it through!" He yelped when the Time Rotor burst, shooting out white electricity all over.

"What's happening to her!?" Avalon shrieked when an electric shock just narrowly missed her side.

"We're going to lose her! We're coming apart!" the Doctor had to step back from the console, or what was going to be left of it.

"I thought you said she could withstand the heat of a star!?"

"I don't know what that means but she just _digested_ a Time Lord weapon of mass destruction! That's bound to make things harder!"

Amy fell against one of the railings. "Doctor, what do we do!? What do we do!?"

The Doctor put his hands together and thought. He _really_ thought. This was the first time something like this was happening and he had nothing to keep it from tearing apart!

_Actually…_

The Doctor shook his head. No, that was...that was a terrible thing to ask…

"RORY!" Avalon screamed when Rory toppled down the staircase leading to the corridors. She tried running towards him but Amy yanked her back.

"I'm fine!" Rory called from his spot, but who knew how long that would be true.

The Doctor closed his eyes. He had to. It was the only way to keep _all_ of them safe. "Sapling!" The child raised his head at the call of his name. "I...I need you to put down roots again, right now!"

The Sapling naturally hesitated. "But...I will lose myself among my leaves, Father!" That's what happened the last time he grew so tall and wrapped everything in his arms. He ended the hippie party but he nearly got lost! What if this time he stayed lost forever!?

"Doctor, you can't make him do that!" Avalon wobbled on her feet to get to the two. She almost fell but she was close enough for the Doctor to grab her and pull her up to him.

"Ava, tree roots stabilize crumbling riverbanks, shifting sands...the Sapling _can_ hold the TARDIS together!"

"But he's just a child!"

"I know that!" He snapped, startling her into silence. He held her closer, really close, enough for him to feel her heart beating rapidly. She was terrified. "I always do things like this and I'm _sorry_ but this is the _only_ way to keep everyone - to keep _you_ \- safe."

Avalon's eyes teared up. She shook her head and looked at the Sapling. "You don't have to," she whispered. "You're just...you're just a child."

The Sapling swallowed hard. He believed his mother when she said it was _his_ choice, but he also believed his father. The only way to keep everyone safe was to sprout his roots. He didn't...he didn't want to let anyone die, especially his parents. But he was just so scared. He wasn't brave like them.

But he had to try.

"Will I...will I still be _me_ when you have saved us all?" He asked in a frail, child, voice. "What if I disappear like last time?"

The Doctor shifted so that he could face the Sapling and still keep hold of Avalon on the side. "Sapling you listen to me, we are _family_. That means that wherever you are, I'll find you and bring you home."

A smile took over the Sapling's face. "That's what you said to aunt Amy and Mother...and you found them." It took them a long time to find them but they did, so that meant that they would find _him_ no matter what.

"Sapling…" Avalon reached for him but didn't have to move a step. The Sapling ran up to her and the Doctor, throwing his arms around them. He hugged them tightly.

"Sapling, I _swear_ we'll find you," the Doctor told the Sapling when he looked up at them. This was the _last_ time he would ever say that to anyone. He had to stop putting them in danger like this, making them get taken away.

"Yeah?" The Sapling asked.

"Yeah, cos I'm going to help," Avalon smiled strongly for him. "And you know what they say, mothers always find what they're looking for."

The Sapling giggled. "You're funny." And that was _his_ Mother, whether she was sure of it or not. He took a deep breath and stepped back. He looked down at his feet and saw them started sprouting the roots on the ground.

His body started stretching out into huge, thick branches that went to cover every inch of the room.

Outside the TARDIS, something was beginning to peek through the shattered windows of the door. "Yesssss, finally….I wassss right all along. Faaaame issss chiefly a maatter of waiting for the rrright door to open."

The Scream smashed a hand through the last window of the door to squeeze right in. "Doctor, I hhhhhave finally fooound youuu."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

So when I read this comic story for the first time I was mighty disappointed that Orphan turned out to be just another weapon. They really got the Doctor all excited for this child and then they took it away from him, just like House did. I also really liked the story because it has 11 acknowledging that his regenerations are up way before he reaches Trenzalore. Like the show never really showed that for some reason and it's not like he didn't know it. It's a pending conversation he'll have with Avalon later on...if they make it out alive from whatever the Scream's planning :)).

And if anyone's looking real hard, I left a tiny - seriously teeny tiny - hint of the next story's arc. It's literally like 3 words but...we'll see if anyone catches it :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars".


	22. Finding Each Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Scream makes his final play against the travelers, leaving them trapped in his own personal world. Only Avalon and the Doctor seem to mildly remember that perhaps the lives they live now aren't correct.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: This was an actual comic arc that I rewrote to fit my story but the plot itself belongs to the comics!

Avalon ran as fast as she could through the 'forest' that now was the TARDIS. She could hear it hissing behind her, coming to get her. It was all too much like the…

"AAAH!" She screamed when the Scream itself jumped in front of her, all dressed in a white suit and looking far bigger than the last time they met.

Her eyes widened.

_He's_ what they met shortly after the Silence in 1969. "I...I remember you. It's you. I...I _forgot_ you, just like with the Silence." She stepped away from it. "It's you who's been following us. How could...how could I just forget that!?"

Lena had brought them back to Earth because of a mysterious letter with coordinates. They traveled to the planet where they bumped into the ugly thing who nearly sucked out hers and the Doctor's memories to create the Sapling! She just...she just forgot all about that! She forgot the Scream was still coming for them. How could she forget something like that!?

"I wassss folllowing the Doctor, not hissss _pet_!"

Avalon frowned. "I am _more_ than a 'pet'. But you would know about that, huh? Your Silence brethren haven't left me the hell alone!"

"I witnessssed your capture...your trrrrrips...Koooovarian…" Avalon swallowed hard as she took a few more steps away. "They arrrrre not doooone with yourrrr family."

"I should've known, you're part of them!"

"Nooooo!" the Silence seemed to shout. "They know noooothing offf meee! They cannot rrrrremmember me!"

Right, it was why he was an special type of Silence. Not even his own kind could remember him.

"That must suck," Avalon could say that honestly. "Not even your own kind can remember you? Must be lonely." The Scream seemed to stop for a moment, staring at her through its hole-eyes.

"Avalon!" Rory stumbled into the clearing. His eyes eyes widened at the sight of the Scream. "I remember you!"

"Yeah, its super power made us forget he was chasing us down the galaxies!" Avalon quickly rushed to his side.

The Scream fired purple electricity at them, forcing them to break into another run. "I ammmm the Screeeeam! I exisssst! Don't turn yourrrr back on meeee!"

The two kept running and running until they could hear Amy's frantic voice paired with the Doctor's. They crashed into them, actually, knocking them to the grassy ground.

"I found _you_!" Avalon beamed at the Doctor. She had fallen over him but didn't seem to mind the harsh crash.

"Are you alright?" the Doctor sat upright and kept a tight hold around her. After the Sapling sprouted roots, the whole TARDIS went haywire...but at least they were still together, litrealy. The box was still together.

"Yeah, Rory and I were running from…" Avalon trailed off with a curious expression taking her face over. "Never mind."

"Doctor, where _are_ we?" Amy took Rory's hand to stand back up, prompting the other pair to do the same. She had been running from something, or she was just running, and she stumbled into the spot where the Doctor was.

"Still in the TARDIS of course! And good news: the Sapling's mature form is mnemomimetic! It's literally turning our stolen memories into fruit!"

Avalon blinked, her eyes drifting to the funny looking branches hanging from above. Some of them seemed to be shaped like people. "You mean... _my_ memories are...hanging all around us?"

"Yours, but mostly mine! I have a _lot_!" the Doctor didn't look as bothered by her. He grabbed her hand and motioned for them to follow him. He brought them down the 'forest' into a room resembling their console room, only this one was covered in moss, branches and leaves. "Okay, well I still haven't found a console room with power. My shiny new one's been completely swamped by the Sapling's root system."

"But...but the TARDIS is _stable_ at least, right?" Amy shot him a look. That was the whole point of the Sapling sprouting his roots. Not a minute after asking, the branches around them started to grow _more_ , some of them wrapping around Rory's arms.

"Hey!" he frowned and fought to free himself. Amy quickly hurried to help him.

"No, no! Stop!" the Doctor frantically called as if the Sapling could still hear then. He...wasn't sure if the Sapling could hear him. His hearts sank. He wasn't sure where the Sapling was or _if_ he still was around. "If the Sapling doesn't stop growing then the dimensional dams will break entirely. If that happens then all the 'bigger on the inside' will continue leaking, taking the Sapling - and our memories - with it."

"We can't let that happen," Avalon quickly said, not even speaking for their memories. _The Sapling_ was waiting for them to find him. "We're going to get to him before any of that happens!"

"Of course we are!" the Doctor nodded but then quietly admitted he wasn't sure how to go along with it.

"Uuh...Doctor? There's a corridor," Amy said, making them turn in her direction. She was pointing at a metal corridor that _hadn't_ been there when they first walked in. It was wide open for them.

"But it's _new_ ," Avalon said. The metal wasn't covered with any moss or branches.

"If I know my TARDIS, she's desperately trying to contain the Sapling's roots so we can find a clean console room," the Doctor squeezed Avalon's hand still holding his. "She's literally shifting her own internal organs around."

Avalon could literally feel her heart cracking. "The TARDIS is doing _that_ for _us_?" She pulled him into the corridor and stopped to look around. "She must be in agony."

"She is," the Doctor knew it. He gently touched the walls and thanked the TARDIS for soldiering on for them. They needed to solve this quickly.

The group hurried down the corridor and found a brand new console room...to them. For the Doctor, it brought out a small nostalgic laugh. "I can't quite believe it's still here after all these years." The console room was the very first one he had back in his first incarnation.

"What, this is actually a real console?" Rory looked around without seeming that impressed by it. It didn't really look like the Doctor, but then again there were so many versions of the man. Maybe this one represented whatever version used it.

"She knows me better than I know myself but she didn't back then," the Doctor came up to the console with Avalon. "That's why she gave me this beautiful blank canvas to begin with."

"And then you proceeded to draw all over it with crayons," Avalon innocently said, meeting the Doctor's sarcastic frown with a smirk.

"It was a _foundation_! A promise! With every regeneration she gets to know me a little bit better! The adventures we had in here though, the ones I can remember anyways. Monoids, Aridians, Voord, Krotons…"

"There are aliens named after stale bread?" Amy raised an eyebrow, genuinely making Avalon and Rory burst into laughter.

"No!" the Doctor huffed. "Well, yes, actually but _these_ are spelled differently. Krotons are nasty, crystalline mental energy vampires! Oh...oh, I'm getting so _slow_ in my old age! I once used the H.A.D.S. to save the TARDIS from the Krotons!"

"H.A.D.S.?" Avalon made a face. "What the hell is that?"

"Hostile Action Dispersal System. It's a defense mechanism which temporarily distributes the TARDIS' atoms over a wide area - or teleports it - when a breach is imminent."

"And why is that useful to us right now?" Rory inquired.

"If I can convince the TARDIS that the breach threat is _internal_ before I activate the H.A.D.S., then it'll dematerialize _around_ the Sapling, effectively separating them!"

"That could work!?" Avalon jumped on the chance.

" _Hold on_ there mister!" Amy suddenly pointed a finger at the man. "If the TARDIS does that then it'll leave all of us outside in _space_! Last time I checked, none of us are space-proof!"

"I was getting to that!" the Doctor huffed. Honestly, did they think he would forget that detail? He moved around the console, and gently tapped the glass time rotor. 'Hello? I know you're busy trying to contain the Sap...the _infection_ , but I have a plan. If you can give me any manual control, then I promise I'll get all of us out of this in one piece!"

"Did you just call the Sapling an infec-" Avalon was cut off by a strong, glowing white light erupting from the Time Rotor.

If the TARDIS believed it was an infection causing this mess then she would definitely agree to giving some control back to them.

The Doctor cheered. "That's my girl! To think, if it hadn't been for that _very_ timely intervention, I'd have borrowed a crummy old Type 53 instead!"

Avalon raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so somebody helped you steal the TARDIS? You had an accomplice!"

"Doctorrrrr," the Scream emerged from the branches on the wall. "You mmmmemoriesss will keep the wood from ssswallowing my consciousnesss whole! Ssssurender to me or you pets diiiie!"

"He really needs to stop calling me a 'pet' or so help me!" Avalon snapped.

"Oh my God, I remember him," Amy blinked behind them. She and the Doctor were going through the same realization that they'd forgotten all about the Scream coming after them. That was the thing about the Scream, it's what made him extra deadly. All on his own, he had the power to make his enemies forget he was hunting them down.

"You remember evvverything," the Scream came closer to them.

The Doctor jumped in front of Avalon, putting on his best grin. "Hello! I'm the Doctor, lovely day, isn't it? And you are?"

"What!? I ssstole some of your memmmoriesss! I know you, Doctor! Yet you dare mmmock me? You maaaake light of my pain!?"

"Pain?" frowned Rory. "Has he seen what he's caused!?"

The Scream seemed to grow in size. White steam was billowing from its body. "You willll pay for thisss insult, Doctor! I have the your TARDISSSS and the Sssapling, my plan issss complete!"

The Doctor's grin dropped from his face to be replaced by a glower. "You're the Scream. You're part of the religious order. And you're angry because no one remembers you." But if anything, _it_ should be afraid of _him_. He was part of the Silence and the Doctor still remembered what he promised to do if he ever saw another Silence again.

They would die for hurting his Ava.

"You will know when I have all the endless memmmories of your TARDISSS core. I shall use the Sssapling to ssspread across the universe and all will know mmy nnname!"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow at the Scream. "You want to be _remembered_? Then _earn_ it. You know what your kind never get?" Avalon watched his hands reach back for the console and she stepped closer to hide his arm movements. "You think by some terrible act or other that your name will go down in infamy. When, really, even if you succeed in whatever plan you've cooked up, people are just going to pity you. They might even despise you, if you give them reason to. The Sapling's an innocent, scared _child_. He has the potential to be anything, absolutely anything so leave him be!"

The Scream stayed silent for a moment, almost looking like he was considering the Doctor's words, but then…

He struck his white energy towards Avalon. She screamed and fell back with her eyes shut.

"AVALON!" the Doctor turned completely for the console to activate the H.A.D.S.

Amy and Rory wanted to get Avalon up but the energy around her enveloped her. She writhed in pain with her eyes still shut. She was seeing _so_ many images in her mind at the moment, all of them rushing as light speed like a movie. She couldn't tell most of them apart but...some of them were of her time with Kovarian.

_Not those. I don't want to see those!_

But suddenly, the Scream was forced to stop. The H.A.D.S. was in full motion! The TARDIS was groaning altogether, pushing the Scream away. Avalon sucked in a sharp breath once she was set free, but her mind was far too frazzled to understand what was happening. Amy and Rory quickly snagged up their granddaughter from the ground, keeping her between them.

"Doctor, what's happening!?" Amy exclaimed just before the TARDIS properly exploded.

The last of the TARDIS' energy went into shielding everyone while they drifted in space. The Doctor was barely able to use his sonic to bring everything back together... _everyone_. And when they joined together again, a certain pair joined _together_ , combining memories and branches and Silence all together.

~ 0 ~

Avalon's eyes snapped open as she woke with a sharp gasp. She sat upright on her bed, her eyes scanning her bedroom like there was something she was going to find…

"Avalon?" She heard Lena knocking on the door. "Avalon! You need to wake up! Mels, Amy and Rory are going to be here in one hour!"

Avalon blinked for a few seconds before slowly getting out of bed. "I'm...I was sleeping…" She whispered and cast a glance at the bed. Why was she repeating that? Yes, of course, she was sleeping. It was night time, so she slept. That's what she always did. She shook her head without thinking.

_NO._

She stiffened. "Where'd that come from?"

"Avalon!" Lena knocked, or banged, on the door again. "Seriously! We're going to be late! Mum and Dad are already eating breakfast!"

"Mum?" Avalon whispered. "My...my Mum?"

Lena groaned and Avalon heard her stomping away. Why was she acting so weird? Yes, her parents made breakfast. That's what they always did. And...and she had plans today. Yes, yes, just like always.

She came up to her window to check for the weather. It looked like a lovely day. The sun was shining so brightly, reflecting beautifully on the far-off Citadel's dome. Avalon stared at it for a moment more, wondering why it was only that city that had a dome.

_Becausssse it's a higher part of the town._

Avalon gasped at the new sound. She looked around and then a moment later thought herself a fool. Who else could have spoken to her? It was just her in her room.

~ 0 ~

Avalon came into the kitchen to see Emmalina Reynolds coming to the table with a new pile of pancakes that Rylan and Gavin were practically ready to devour. Lena chuckled as her mother smacked Gavin's hand away from the plate until it was set on the table.

"Honestly, you act like I never feed you!" Emmalina sighed until she saw Avalon at the threshold. "Good morning. You slept well!"

"Just like always," Lena added. "Wish we all slept like Avalon."

But Avalon didn't speak, nor move. She was staring at Emmalina with eyes wide. She felt something in her stomach, something like...like she wanted to throw up.

_Look!_

"Avalon," Emmalina softly called. "Are you alright?"

Avalon blinked and realized there was something on her face. When she touched her cheek, she found a _tear_. She was _crying_. Why was she doing that?

From the kitchen window, the Scream silently watched the Reynolds 'family'. The girl was _stronger_ than he anticipated. Her mind was trying to warn her that the setting was fake, but why? He expected such a thing from the Doctor, but _this_ girl? He would just have to keep manipulating all the memories he had, and since he and the Sapling were joined now...he had _plenty_ of memories to draw from.

~ 0 ~

Avalon and Lena came skipping down the front steps of their home to where Amy, Rory and Mels were waiting for them.

"Took you long enough," Mels huffed. "Seriously, what took you so long?" Avalon tilted her head at Mels. Seeing the stare she now claimed, Mels arched an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"She probably recognizes her dress," Amy joked and shared a laugh with Lena and Rory.

"I borrowed it!" Mels exclaimed.

"Right!"

"I...like your hair," Avalon's hand came to rest over her own hair. Mels' hair was as curly as hers, but more ashy brown of course.

Mels smiled like she already knew her hair was good. "Thank you, sweetie. And just so we're clear, this _is_ your dress."

"Avalon, what's the matter with you?" Lena spared her sister a weary glance before talking to the others. "She's been acting so weird today, it's not funny."

"Ah, she's just sad she couldn't find a date for the concert!" Mels came over to put her arm around Avalon's shoulders. "It's alright, I'm sure we'll find you someone to go home with."

"Mels!" Lena, Amy and Rory all chorused with the same groans.

Avalon, however, flinched at the idea of it. "I _wouldn't_ ," she said all too certain as well. Something about going home with someone...didn't settle right. It gave her that feeling of throwing up again.

"Let's just go before we're late," Rory motioned them to start walking.

Somewhere along the way, Avalon moved so that she was walking with Amy instead. There was something nagging in the back of her head, making her believe that perhaps Amy could help her out. "Hey Amy, do you ever get the feeling that...that something's kind of off?"

Amy made a face at the question. "Off? Like what?"

"I don't know," Avalon shrugged. "Like...like there's something you're missing?"

"Don't think so…" And yet, as Amy answered she began to look away. Avalon noticed it and thought that maybe she would change her answer. But just like that, Amy shook her head. "Nah! I think you're just tired!"

"No, I...I've been sleeping a lot, actually." Avalon thought that was pretty weird. Sleeping...a lot. She did that a lot, right?

"Yeah, and talking in your sleep from what Lena says," Amy chuckled. "You've been dreaming about someone, huh? Some nice fella out there that's caught your eye?"

Avalon blinked. "What? No I haven't!"

"Yeah, you have!" Lena chimed in from behind. "I bet it was some princess stuff cos you kept saying 'Fairy Tale Man' over and over."

"Oh," Avalon came to an automatic stop, even though she had no idea why. Something was sparking in her mind...a faint image. A man. She saw a man.

"What's wrong _now_?" Lena groaned.

"I thought I saw someone...in my head," Avalon brought a hand to her forehead. She rubbed her skin in hopes of getting that image back. "A-a man. He…"

"Ha, I knew it!" Mels laughed. "Avalon's thinking of her dream man!"

"Aren't we all?" Amy said, only to have Rory huff at her.

"Husband!"

Amy laughed and went along with him. "Right!"

"I swear Avalon, we'll find you a boyfriend by tonight," Mels promised, never noticing the way Avalon's face crinkled.

Something about the term 'boyfriend' didn't sit well with her.

~ 0 ~

"I can't put my finger on it but something's just not quite right about this place...this city." A homeless man maneuvered himself through the plant matter - er, forest - as best as he could. He was sure that if he kept pulling on one of those branches there would be _something_ underneath it. The forest just didn't look right to him.

_You need to ressst, that'ssss all. Too many adventuressss._

The man stopped. He had broken a part of a branch and stared at it, like something was supposed to be coming back to him. "You might be right. Perhaps I've been pushing it a bit." The man allowed for the Scream to take the branch from him. "What would I do without you, old friend?"

The creature was his only friend on the streets. He didn't have anything else, _anyone_ else. Although, it was funny because he kept thinking of this woman...he couldn't quite _see_ her but he could _think_ of her. And he could smell her too if he really concentrated. _Lavender._ She smelled like lavender. Lovely scent. But she was probably just a dream. He dreamt someone up to make him feel less lonely.

"You would losssse yourssself in the night. Don't you thiiiink you look ttttired? Let'ssss go to the ssshelter? Get a hott meall." the Scream pulled him out his thoughts. That was the problem with the Doctor: he _thought_ too much. The girl, while more aware, was more malleable. He didn't need to physically appear to her, much less the other two travelling with them. Those two were puppets.

The Doctor stopped to look at himself in a reflection. Funny, there was a mirror amongst all the plant matter. His eyes widened. He didn't quite like the beard on him but he liked his hat. Although, maybe it should've be more red and a bit more bowl shaped. What were those things called again?

"Maybe I do feel tired," he realized when his thought once again drifted to the woman. For some reason, he didn't think she would like that red hat he imagined. "I feel like there's a fog in my mind. Like something's just out of reach but you can't recall what. But there's still so much to see out there! I've never seen a Star Whale keening for its mate! I've never seen a sycorax ship deploy its faith coils to pray its way out of a gravitation blizzard!"

_Doctorr, weee talked about thisss. You delusssionesss..._

The Doctor stopped and exhaled. "I...was making things up again, wasn't I? Maybe Avalon could write them down for stories…" He trailed off, where did _that_ come from?

The Scream ushered the Doctor away from the plant matter. One more pull of a branch and he would've discovered a hidden console underneath it. But now there he went again naming that pet! " _All nonsensssse. No one else is hhhhere. It'ssss jussst you and meee, rememberrrr? Besides, every adventurrrer is rrrright heeere where you left it. Out here, on the streets."_

The Doctor stared at the city ahead of them. Tears came to his eyes. There was a whole big city and he had no one to see it with. He would wander the streets on his own all day. "Yes, yes, of course. I don't need a _home_. I never did." He had no home.

Funny, that woman he kept thinking of would be a nice someone to see that city with, but she wasn't real.

~ 0 ~

Music blared, leaving ears ringing but no one cared. The crowd cheered and sang along to the music.

Except for Avalon. She was more preoccupied with the crowd itself. Everyone seemed to be having a good time but she couldn't help think that some of them...were just _weird._ It wasn't a nice thought at all, she knew, but the more she stared the more she couldn't shake the feeling off.

There was a metal man, for starters, bobbing his head to the music. Avalon felt like she should be afraid and yet...no one else seemed concerned. Then there was this lady who was all gray and her skin seemed kind of hard. For a moment, Avalon thought the woman should be covering her face.

_Sssstop looking_.

Avalon snapped her head behind her, as if the hissing voice would be right behind her. Where did that keep coming from!?

"Avalon, what are you doing!?" Amy laughed and pulled Avalon closer to her. "Sing along! He's singing your favorite song: Blue Box Blues!"

"Blue box…" Avalon whispered. She wrapped an arm around her stomach. She wanted to throw up again. "Amy...Amy something's not right."

"Yeah! You're not singing!"

"AMY!" Avalon shook the woman. "Just listen to me! Something's not right! All day I've been getting these feelings like...like I _know_ that I've forgotten something but I don't know what it is! Plus...there's just _something_ off!" She brought a hand to her hair, grasping strands as she frantically looked through the crowd...as if there was someone she was supposed to find.

"Okay, geez, Avalon. Just calm down," Amy cautiously grabbed Avalon's arms, keeping her steady. "I'm listening. I'm really listening."

Avalon felt tears in her eyes. Her breath was raggedy like she'd run a marathon just then. "There's...there's a voice inside my head. It keeps... _hissing_ at me…" She scrunched her face. It made her body shiver just thinking about it. "I need help, I need a doct…"

There was a spark of recognition across her eyes for just a brief second, half a second. Though Avalon forgot about it, she _knew_ she had to get out of there. Actually, not just her. "Rory!" She reached past Amy and grabbed Rory's arm. "We have to go!"

"What, hey! The song was just about to end!" Rory complained as Avalon dragged him and Amy out of the concert.

"Avalon, I think we should get you home!" Amy exclaimed just as Avalon brought them to the streets.

"You two need to get a _grip_ and realize that it's not…" Avalon let go of the two when she saw a swirling portal across the street. Her eyes widened as it stretched out to become like a crack in the air. "What's...that's not... _this_ isn't…" She looked around the street with both hesitance and fear. "Is this real?"

"Hey...that looks…" Amy blinked at the crack. She shook her head and that odd feeling she got from just looking at the thing.

"Cracks," Avalon breathed in. "There's cracks in the universe. I...somebody said that. Somebody else said that too, and I…"

"No, it's true! I found three more cracks in the last street!" A man's voice carried over, pulling the trio's attention to the end of the street where a homeless man was running down, excitedly babbling on. "I wonder if there's more!"

"There's one right here!" Avalon found herself blurting and promptly covered her mouth when she realized it.

The Doctor came running down to stop beside them and see the crack proudly scarring the air. "Interesting! Do you know what the crack is?"

"Clearly we don't or else we wouldn't be here, right?" Avalon's sarcasm made the Doctor smile.

"It's a _crack_!"

"But that we clearly knew!"

"Avalon!" Rory hissed. "Stop fighting with a homeless man!"

Avalon turned around, her hair flipping with her. The Doctor sniffed the air when he got a whiff of... _lavender._

"You smell like lavender," he turned the woman around without even thinking it. Avalon looked at him strangely and despite being a _homeless_ man, she didn't really feel scared. Actually, he was kind of cute.

"I don't like your hat," she had to say when she got a look at the ruddy thing.

"Yeah, and you don't like fezzes either!" The Doctor's eyes widened as soon as the words left his mouth.

"...Doctor?" Avalon's hand shakily reached to touch his face and the Doctor just _let_ it happen. There was something quite warm about her hand and her gentle fingers.

"Ava…" He hummed in content.

" _Enough!_ " the Scream hissed as it appeared in front of them. Avalon yelped and jumped back. Amy and Rory did the same from their spots. The Doctor quickly barred the way to Avalon, not even realizing when he did it. "You two togetherrrr againnn! I ssssupose it was inevitable! I tried to make thissss painlesss. The memory transferrrr is ssso much cleaner with a _living_ victimmm, but ssso be it!"

"How did we forget _again_!?" Amy cried angrily, shooting Rory who was also remembering the real situation.

"What!? Don't look at me! _You_ forgot too!" he shouted back.

But their argument was cut off when the Doctor and Avalon cried in pain. They were _disintegrating_ like Orphan had, only instead of white bits they were releasing small green leaves.

"Everyone thinkssss they want to ffind the truth…" the Scream watched the pair fall to their knees on the ground. Roots sprouted to force them down. "Until the truth findsss themmm. You wanted a _home_ , Doctor? I shall _eat_ you now. A hot meal for the homeless man!"

"Ah, Doctor, how do we help you!?" Amy ran towards them but the Scream fired at her to keep still. Rory yanked her to his side, motioning they would freeze there...at least until they figured out a way to help the Doctor and Avalon.

The roots, which were the Scream's own tendrils, wrapped around each of them. It invaded their minds, intending on taking everything he could find. He just failed to realize that it was a two-way connection. Memories were flowing _out_ from the pair but at the same time memories were flowing _in_ from the Scream, the very memories the Sapling once upon a time took at the time of his birth.

"The Sapling…" the Doctor sucked in a sharp breath, "He's a tree isn't he? That's where we found him...a forest planet?"

Avalon could see the memory he talked about, but she literally felt her insides being _crushed_. "He's...going to kill us!"

"How sweeeet that you rememberrrr again. You think of the Scream and you knooowwww fffeear! Soon you shall beee entirely consumed. Sooon you shall nottt existtt. You shalll only exisssst in here! In _my_ head! _My_ memoriesss! NOthing will exist, other than the Scream!"

And then the Scream, everyone for that matter, heard the Doctor _laugh_.

"Are you seriously laughing!?" Amy incredulously stared at the Time Lord.

He was. He truly was even when the branches were wrapping around his body. "I just realized...well, I remembered. This entire world is populated by my and Avalon's memories. You just threw in Amy and Rory cos you had no idea what to do with them yet-"

"Thanks," Rory cut in with the exact flat face his wife had.

"-and because the Sapling wouldn't let you get rid of them. This place is an entirely subjective environment and you're about to kill us! Then Amy, and Rory...so what happens when we're _all_ gone? Who will be here to remember you if it's just _you_?"

"Ha…" Avalon found strength to laugh for a tiny moment. The branches were squeezing her tight. "If a tree falls in a forest and no one's around…"

" _...does anyone_ _ **know**_ _?_ " the Scream realized.

"Ava, I'm passing a psychic message to you via the root system." the Doctor quickly said before the Scream could enact what promised to be even more outrageous than what he already did, "A plan. Listen to me, Ava. Just listen."

Avalon wanted to point out that she had no idea how to _receive_ such a message, but the Doctor went ahead anyways. She closed her eyes and let whatever happen, happen.

The Scream...screamed. A white light had eradicated his entire world, leaving only him in a white place. Was a room? A world? He didn't know.

"Is anyone there?" he called out. "Can anybody hear me? I...I don't want to be alone!"

"Because it _sucks_ , right?"

The Scream turned around to find Avalon standing a few feet away from him. She was scowling at him. "I know how it feels to be alone. The Doctor does too. And you used that against us. And you know the funny thing is, if you had just _asked_ the Doctor for help...he would've done it. I know he's said that he'd kill any Silence for what they did to me but I know my Doctor. You weren't part of the Silence. You didn't do anything. All you needed to do was ask for help...but you didn't."

"Youuuu will diiiie!" the Scream pointed at her.

Avalon swallowed hard. "You absorbed the Sapling. You took his powers, right? So use them. Why don't you just make copies of yourself? Then you never have to be alone again."

"I...yes…" the Scream realized that would be an even better plan. With thousands of him, he could take over every planet and force _everyone_ to remember him.

Avalon watched the Scream multiply and multiple until there were really near a thousand of them just staring at her, maliciously planning no doubt. She felt her breath leave her. "Is...is the Sapling inside you somewhere? Can...can you release him? You've got what you wanted. There's _so_ many of you, why keep him?" Her eyes teared up as the memories of the Sapling started resurfacing in her mind. "Please...he's...he's my son. I want him back."

The Scream flatly ignored her. "I can make endless copiessss of me! They willlll spread acrossss the universe! With the Sapling'sssss power I caaaan make millionssss...billionsss of me! I will absorb alll life! The universe willll only be the Screammm!"

" _Fine_ ," Avalon spat, her eyes narrowing on the Scream.

"Oi! Bighead!" the Doctor's voice hollered, making every copy of the Scream look _away_ from themselves.

And once they looked away from themselves, it forgot that it _existed_. Each of them faded away into nothing, leaving no trace that it had ever existed in the first place.

Avalon turned around to see the Doctor, Amy and Rory. It was funny, the white room - she decided it was a room - seemed endless. She had to run for a few seconds until she could join them.

She jumped into the Doctor's arms, hugging him tight. "I did it! I got your message! I did it!"

"I know you did," the Doctor hugged her tight, getting that strong scent of sweet lavender. He truly did love it.

"So he just...he just forgot himself?" Rory felt a headache coming along with just that detail.

"We literally used its own weapon against it," the Doctor said to them as he let Avalon go just a bit. He had completely forgotten her for a moment there and he wasn't interested in letting her go anytime soon.

"So then shouldn't _we_ have faded from existence when the Scream did?" Amy gestured to the white room. "We were inside him, after all. He absorbed us."

"You'd think so, the Scream vanished but…" there was a familiar grin on the Doctor's face that Avalon saw first. "Remember that he _merged_ with the Sapling and now the Scream is gone, so that means we're currently inside…"

"The Sapling!" Avalon gasped, soon sporting the same grin as the Doctor's. "He's still alive!"

"That's really great, but how do we get out!?" Rory exclaimed.

"Hello! Hi!" Amy started shouting into the air. "Sapling, if you can hear us...I'm _really_ tired! Can we just go home!?"

There was a light whooshing air, almost like the TARDIS would make. Before they knew it, the outline of a door appeared a few feet away from them.

"Is it really _that_ easy?" Avalon blinked, stepping towards it.

"If he knows that I'm tired then yeah," Amy shot them a smirk and hurried up to it despite Rory's warning call to wait. Amy opened the door and stepped into the console room, _their_ console room. "Aha! Yes!" But she gasped when she saw the Sapling across from them.

Everyone else did too.

The Sapling _was_ back but he was a little different…and not so little anymore...

"Sapling!" Avalon zoomed right past the group to hug the Sapling, although she had to go on her tippy-toes because now the Sapling was as tall as the Doctor.

"What's wrong with him?" Rory whispered to the Doctor.

"Nothing! He's... _matured_!" the Doctor grinned and hurried over as well.

The Sapling had grown into a man - a tree man. He had lost his brown wooden skin to be replaced by a white, pinkish skin. His eyes had shrunken a bit, stretched out only slightly. Even his head was no longer that pointy!

"I grew up, Mother," the Sapling pulled away from Avalon to hug the Doctor, revealing his lower voice in the process.

"Yes, you did!" Avalon laughed out of surprise.

"We all go through a difficult adolescent phase where a homicidal memory-stealing alien from a strange religious cult wants to use us to take over the entire universe and turn every living thing into them!" the Doctor stepped back beside Avalon and found her glaring at him.

"Please stop talking."

The Sapling laughed. Avalon gave him a strange look for that. "You even laugh like a grown up. When Rory was a kid, his voice broke so much when he laughed!"

"Avalon, shush!" Rory frowned. This was no time to bring up his teenage years!

"You found me," the Sapling breathed out with a nervous smile. "Just like you promised you would."

"You _are_ family," the Doctor reiterated to him. "You're our son."

"Yes," the Sapling nodded, as if only now just coming to terms with it. "You are my Father, you are my Mother…" He looked past the pair to Amy and Rory, "My...aunt and uncle." The two thanked him for not revealing their true relationship. "I wanted to thank you all for believing in me. You _saved_ me. My race, my DNA...it said that I _had_ to destroy and spread across the universe. That I was a _weapon_."

"But you're not," Avalon shook her head. "You are _so_ incredible! You're my son!"

"Truly," the Doctor agreed.

"Father, you _stole_ this TARDIS, ran from your people, refused to be what you were told to be. You decided to be _kind_. You are an inspiration!"

"Oh, well..I…" the Doctor stammered as he looked around, making the others laugh.

Avalon threw her arms around him. "I agree! And you made him blush!"

"No, I'm not!"

The Sapling smiled as the two bickered for a few seconds. They didn't even hear him when he pointed out that they both had their memories back.

"Alright you two, break it up!" Amy came marching up to them and physically ripped them away from each other. "Sheesh! Bad influence on your _child_!"

"Yeah, yeah," the Doctor waved them off. "So, Sapling, where to from here? Would you like to stay or…?"

"Or?" Avalon frowned, her eyes flickering from him and the Sapling. "What do you mean 'or'?"

"Well, it's just...the Sapling is - as he put it - all grown up. Sometimes, typically, that means he might want to go exploring on his own."

Avalon's entire face fell at the idea of the Sapling _leaving_ them. Without realizing it, she'd become so attached to him. She'd gotten used to having the little one around…

_But he's not 'little' anymore and that's the point!_

"You're all grown up," she said sadly. "Of course you want to leave."

"It's not that I _want_ to leave you, Mother. I'm just curious," the Sapling smiled softly at her. He walked up to her and put his hands over her shoulders. "But it doesn't mean I won't come back. You're my _Mother_."

"Not a very good one, I'm afraid," Avalon sniffed. "I-I didn't really know what to do half the time. I'm sorry about that."

"You were wonderful, Mother! So much fun! I will always love our movie marathons! And the Heist! That's my favorite memory with Father."

The Doctor grinned. "Don't fret, I'm sure we'll have another one!"

"No, we _won't_!" Rory huffed. They just didn't understand that heists were wrong, didn't they!?

The Sapling smiled at all of them. "Yes, I won't go away forever. I'll be back to visit!"

The Doctor moved for the console and rummaged through the under compartments until he pulled out a familiar device. "Take this, Sapling. In case you wander to some, uh, not so advanced parts of the galaxies. And Earth."

The Sapling took the device from him. It was what changed his appearance to a human boy when he visited Leadworth. "Thank you, Father."

"Well...can I have another hug before we have to drop you off?" Avalon was already holding her arms out. She felt like she was about to burst into sobs. So, the Sapling hugged her for a little bit longer than the others.

~ 0 ~

Following into his mother's footsteps, the Sapling chose to start his own adventures in the 51st century. With tears in their eyes, the family parted and went their separate ways. As soon as everything was back to normal, Avalon was shipped off to the medbay for a thorough examination. After breathing in the air from Zoline and undergoing the Scream's own personal world, they needed to make sure Avalon hadn't suffered any setbacks in her health.

"I still think this is all just a tad too much," Avalon sighed in her spot. She scooted to the edge of the medbed while the Doctor hurried back to the computers to upload her latest blood samples.

"Nope! You're not getting up from that bed until I'm done with you!"

A smirk played on Avalon's face. " _Ooh_ , I didn't know you were thinking like _that_ , Fairy Tale Man."

The Doctor winced and shot her a look, though as upset as he wanted to seem the bright red blush on his face greatly contradicted it. "Not like that!" Before she could say anything else, he dove his head to the computers instead. She needed to stop playing with him like that because one of these days…

"So, how is everything?" Avalon asked after a moment of listening to computers whizzing.

"Pretty normal...for you," the Doctor was happy to read. He literally felt his hearts returning to their normal beating speed. Her lungs didn't hold on to any of the poisons from Zoline's air and her brain scans showed nothing was damaged from the Scream's attacks. She was perfectly normal.

He could breathe again.

He turned around and went straight to the ginger, pulled her right off the bed to hug her. "I promise there'll be no more invasions into your head." He kissed the top of her head.

"That would be nice," Avalon hummed. "Although, it does feel kind of nice knowing that even when we forgot about each other, we still found each other."

The Doctor smiled and swayed her a bit. "Of course I'd find you, Ava." _Because I love you._ Oh, those were still too strong words for her. He didn't want to freak her out after everything that already happened.

Avalon hummed for a few seconds until she spoke again, "Well, I just want to make it clear that you _do_ have a home." She raised her head to meet his gaze. The Sapling had heard all the conversations they had in the Scream's world and was fairly good at giving Avalon the quick run-down of the Doctor's most popular thoughts in that world. He felt like he didn't have a home and that could not be. "You said you didn't have a home, but you do. It's me, Amy and Rory. We're not Gallifrey but I can try to make it as best as I can."

The Doctor brought his hands to cup her face. "You are absolutely wonderful," he said, feeling truly touched with her words. Yes, of course you're my home. I was just so alone in that other world...it's actually not that far from what I used to be."

"Well that's never happening again," Avalon was quick to say, "Because I am never leaving you. I'm here until the end..." Those words brought her to the next point she wanted to discuss - she wanted to yell actually but she didn't want to make things worse. "Doctor, is it really true that you don't have any regenerations left?"

The Doctor's expression turned grim fast. He should've figured that was going to come back sooner or later. He dropped his hands from her face and sighed. "Yes..."

"But didn't you say you were in your eleventh incarnation?" Or had she misheard that bit? She was sure that she hadn't.

The Doctor brought a hand up to the back of his neck. "I...this is my last body. My previous incarnation wasted one regeneration."

"How!?"

"He, uh...I...liked that face, a lot. So I kept it." Looking back at it, it truly _was_ a waste of a regeneration.

"That's one, where's the other one?"

The Doctor would prefer not to talk about _that_ incarnation. He didn't even consider it an incarnation but Avalon wasn't going to let it go. She wanted to know the truth and after everything, she deserved some truth. "There's one incarnation that I don't really like to think of, nor remember. It was the one during the War. That's two incarnations there so...this me...is the last one."

"How could you not tell me that?" Avalon thought about Lake Silencio. River had been wrong. The Doctor didn't die 'mid-regeneration'. He had just _died._ He would die because he was _shot_ , not because he couldn't make it to the next regeneration. Had the astronaut known that?

_You're learning it right now_. She stiffened. What if the future was cementing right now?

Tears filled Avalon's eyes when her thoughts started spinning with multiple Lake Silencio scenarios. "Oh my God," she covered her mouth.

The Doctor sprang into action when he saw her tears. "N-n-n-n-no, Ava! I'm okay! I'm alright!" He yanked her into another hug, this time holding her as tightly as he could. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you that. I-I didn't know how to bring it up."

Avalon knew there was no way to bring that up into a conversation. If roles were reversed she would probably struggle too. But she knew it wasn't why she was crying. Her tears belonged to the future. She _couldn't_ let that happen to him. If she was the astronaut, then she would make sure she never hurt him. She could do that. She could really do that.

She rested her hands over his chest, listening to the rhythm of his heart beats. "Then I guess we'll have to make sure nothing happens to these hearts." She raised her head to meet his soft smile. "I can take care of them."

"Yeah?" the Doctor wouldn't mind that one bit.

"Mhm, I'll be gentle with them." Avalon watched him near her lips, her own lips curving into a smile. _I'll love them_. She paused so subtly that the Doctor never saw it. She had no idea where that thought came from but it brought about special butterflies in her stomach. She looked at him in a whole different light and suddenly the only thing she wanted to do was kiss him until she ran out of breath.

"They couldn't be in safer hands," the Doctor murmured just before kissing her, unknowingly fulfilling her current desire. Avalon quickly moved her arms around his neck to bring him closer and leave their bodies firmly pressed against each other's.

Unfortunately, they were interrupted shortly afterwards…

" _What_ kind of exams are you running here, exactly?" The sharp voice of Amy broke them apart.

"P-Ponds!" the Doctor sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of both Amy and Rory at the doorway. This was _bad, bad_!

"I told you they needed supervision!" Rory huffed at his wife and crossed his arms.

"Shame, I lost a bet because of you two!" Amy pointed at the pair who were frozen in their spots. Glumly, she reached into her pant's pockets to pull out the money.

"You _bet_ on us?" frowned Avalon before it hit her. "Wait! What about!?"

"That you could handle this relationship like _adults_ obviously!"

"You _knew_!?" Avalon and the Doctor yelled with the same red blush on their faces.

"Since when!?" Avalon demanded.

Amy and Rory looked at each other to make the calculations. They went back and forth for a few minutes until they agreed. "Two weeks ago!"

"What? And you didn't say anything?" The Doctor arched an eyebrow at them, for a brief moment wondering if they were truly the Ponds.

"Well, it was obvious you guys weren't ready to tell us," Amy shrugged then flashed them a smirk. "Course it just seems like you were a lot more busy snogging than anything else."

"Yeah, since this is all out in the air can we just dial it back a bit?" Rory properly shivered. He did _not_ enjoy catching his granddaughter snogging the hell out of the Doctor two weeks ago. That was not a way to start a morning. He would've yelled for them to stop if Amy hadn't pulled him out of the console room in time.

"You're not...you're not _mad_?" the Doctor's voice was a tad squeaky, much to Amy's amusement. He was clearly nervous of their reactions.

Avalon moved one of her arms over his shoulder and looked at his anxious face. Poor thing really did look scared. It warmed her heart that he truly cared a lot about what Amy and Rory had to say about their relationship, but at the same time she felt the need to point out it didn't matter what they thought. She wondered _why_ he was so fixated on their opinions anyways.

"We were surprised that you started a relationship without letting us in on the secret," Rory was the one to say and for the same reason the Doctor had asked the question in the first place. He made it very clear in the beginning what he thought about the relationship if it ever were to happen. He supposed that even after he apologized to the Doctor and told him that he would really be okay with a relationship between them, the Doctor would still be nervous. "But we're happy for you, _really_."

Once again, the Doctor felt like he could breathe again. Avalon shook her head at him with a laugh. "I think your hearts were doing the salsa for a moment!" She gave a light pat to his chest.

He rolled his eyes at her. He didn't care. He just heard that her grandparents were okay with their relationship. They didn't want him away from her!

"Avalon, are you happy?" Amy asked her even though the answer was clear as day.

The Doctor still had one arm wrapped around her waist while she adjusted his bowtie. "Like you wouldn't believe it," Avalon hummed contently. She had just made the biggest realization in her life and she wasn't going to let anyone take it away. "My Fairy Tale Man has made me so happy."

"That's great," Amy nodded before clapping her hands together. "So now that we're all in the loop we can implement the _rules_."

That certainly snapped Avalon out of her moment. "The what now?"

"The rules!" chorused her grandparents.

"One of the most important rules is you are to sleep in _separate_ rooms, young lady!"

"Oh, c'mon-" Avalon was in the middle of rolling her eyes when Amy reached over to yank her away. "Amy!"

"No, you actually do need to rest tonight Ava," the Doctor pointed at her and earned himself a glare. "Goodnight Ava!"

Avalon gasped as Amy dragged her out of the room. "Doctor! I hate you!"

"Yeeeeah," Rory clapped a hand over the Doctor's shoulder, "For your own safety, you're going to always want to agree with Ava. It's survival. She gets that from her grandmother." Of course he winced when he remembered that Amy wasn't that far away and could possibly overhear him.

The Doctor could half-smile now. "Thanks Rory. So...are you really okay?"

"Yes, of course. I told you this, Doctor. I'm really sorry for what I used to think but I _know_ where Avalon is safest and where she's happiest. And even though Amy and I caught you two weeks ago, we knew something was up," Rory crossed his arms and smirked when the Doctor paled for a few seconds.

"Y-you did?"

"Of course. Avalon was a wreck after Berlin. Three months we spent trying to build her health and her mental health...and then one day, poof! She's not grumpy anymore, she didn't cry as much...she was smiling. My granddaughter was _laughing_ again. You made that happen and I will always be thankful for that."

The Doctor was touched to hear Rory's words. To know that Rory, the person who was most against this relationship, was truly _thankful_ for him...it relieved the Doctor of several layers of guilt. "Thank you Rory. Really."

"There's just one thing I'm going to ask of you," Rory warned, his face softening as he spoke again, "Please keep her safe. I lost my daughter, I couldn't keep her safe. I don't want Avalon to keep suffering. Please promise me that you will always keep her safe. When Amy and I are long gone, promise me that you'll put Avalon's safety first."

"Rory, don't talk about that…" the Doctor hated to think that one day he and Amy would...they would... _die_. It truly hurt his insides, made them churn too.

"No, we have to. Especially now that we know Avalon's lifespan is just like...doubled or tripled, whatever it is...it's a lot longer than what Amy and I are going to live combined. And that's fine. I would never want to bury her or River first. _They_ need to bury _us_ first. So when Amy and I are gone, you promise me that Avalon will come first no matter what."

"I _swear_ Rory," the Doctor ultimately said. He understood where Rory was coming from. He was, after all, a father and grandfather himself (at least he once was). The need to keep one's family safe was a powerful force. It overrode anything else. Rory felt that towards Avalon and he couldn't dismiss it simply because he wasn't comfortable talking about death. "Avalon will _always_ come first. Her safety will be my first priority."

Rory nodded firmly. "Thank you." He wouldn't share with the Doctor, nor Amy for that matter, that there was still a tiny part of him that still felt like there was a moment coming for them; something that would hurt all of them. He just hoped that the Doctor would fulfill his promise if the time ever called for it.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

And that concludes the Sapling's arc but don't fret, he's not gone forever! He'll be making some visits later on! When I first read this arc I thought the ending was SO cool and yet so sad. I mean, all they had to do was get the Scream to look away from itself to defeat him. I don't know, I just got chills when I read that moment. It was written so nicely and so sadly...*Jake Peralta's voice* Chills, literal chills!

And how about Avalon's realization? Took her long enough to realize she's in love **sigh. Sweet idiot!

**P.S** As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is " **saiilorstars** "


	23. The Investigators

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The travelers must investigate the cry of help of a child. When the Ponds get seperated from the Doctor, they and their granddaughter get some bonding moments in a creepy doll house.

Avalon was in the console room with her journal open in front of her, currently writing yet another little draft she'd been tinkering with. It was so funny how her mind kept coming up with so many new ideas lately. There was just a lot to say right now. She knew the Silence and Kovarian were still out there, and of course there was the fact she still didn't know who the astronaut from Lake Silencio was, but _right now_ she was actually happy. She was content.

Hell, she'd even gotten a little postcard from the Sapling. That alone had lifted her spirits! The Sapling wrote to his parents that he was just fine and that he was having a lot of fun on a planet made up of jewels. He said that he would soon visit them to ' _Take his Mother to see the pretty jewels_ ', prompting an excited squeal from Avalon. How could she not be happy with that? So her hand wrote along her endless journal...until someone covered her eyes.

She smiled and lowered her pen. "Who, oh who, could be covering my eyes and therefore preventing me from writing?"

"Only your primary subject of your journal," came the Doctor's smug voice from behind. He lifted his hands from her eyes and kissed her cheek.

"You wish. Not all my stories were about you, you know," she smirked as he moved around the chair to face her. "Actually, I don't think I've written a proper story about you since you picked me up from Leadworth the first time." It was fairly amusing watching his face fall with disappointment.

"What do you mean!? I'm...I'm _me_!"

"Yes," she laughed. "But the world doesn't revolve around you."

"Oh, but it revolves around _you_?"

"Yeah, thanks for catching on!"

"Think you're funny, then," he evaluated her and had to stop himself from smiling.

"I like to think so," Avalon answered his question with another of her smirks. "And to be honest, I wrote about a super hero, not a dork in a bow-tie."

There was utter offence on the Doctor's face. "You...you are just _mean_!"

"I'm sorry but...c'mon," she reached for his bow-tie to give it a little flick. "What on Earth made you decide that these were cool?"

"They don't seem be uncool when you hold onto them," he flashed her a smirk that grew when he saw the red tint cross her face. "That's right, princess, don't start something you can't win."

Now it was Avalon's turn to be offended. "How dare you!"

Before she could either throw the journal at him or smack him, he caught her lips in a kiss. "And there's the ending of that," he declared as he let her go. He yanked her up from the chair to sit down and have her sit on his lap. He was quite smug in the end.

"Well, someone woke up in a good mood," Avalon noted with a playful roll of his eyes.

"Is it hard to believe that I'm happy right now?" He took one of her hands and kissed it and followed with a trail of more kisses going up her arm. It was actually a real novelty for him to feel like that but looking at who he had in front of him, _on_ him, there was no other way to feel.

Avalon smiled at him. "I'd be offended if you weren't."

"Oh," the Doctor rolled his eyes. "Here I am trying to be soft and mushy and that's all you have to say?"

"What else am I supposed to say?"

The Doctor's face was flat as he stared at her. "How the hell am I attracted to you when all you do is be mean to me?"

"Not true, I pay you compliments all the time," she said innocently while she fiddled with his bowtie. "Why, just yesterday I said that the 'Oncoming Storm' sounds like a sexy name for a hero. Was that not nice?"

Judging by the smirk on his face, it was _very_ nice. "Oh alright, I can't stay mad at you." He brushed a finger under her chin.

"No, you can't, because I give you these," she left a pretty nice trail of kisses along his cheek.

"And how happy I am to receive them," he grinned and ducked his head just as she was about to kiss his cheek again, making her kiss his lips instead. It was their last kiss before Amy and Rory came in. They had set up some rules and there was one important rule they were to follow.

Granddaughters were to be _off_ Time Lords at all times.

"Woah!" The Doctor exclaimed as he dug into his jacket and pulled out his psychic paper in urgency.

"What's the matter?" Avalon didn't know whether to laugh or not when he wiggled so weirdly.

"Please save me from the monsters," he read from the paper and promptly put it back into his pocket then turned for the console, "Haven't done this in a while!"

"Done what?" Amy frowned as he went around the console starting the TARDIS up, "What're you doing?"

"Making a house call," he pointed at them before pulling a lever and sending them into motion.

"Oh, you're doing the quiet materialization," Avalon raised her eyebrows with mild surprise, "Must be bad. Well, we best go and see what's going on, then," and she stepped forwards only for Rory to grab her arm and force her to stay still, "Rory?"

"Doctor, are we somewhere okay for her health?"

Avalon groaned. They were still doing it and if they had their way they would continue to do it for all of time.

"Course we are! It's Earth!" the Doctor exclaimed, further irritating Avalon by following the game. He reached over to pull Avalon to his side. "Never bringing my Ava somewhere she shouldn't be."

"One of these days, I'm just gonna kill all of you and steal the TARDIS," Avalon declared in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Quit overreacting," Amy waved her off and headed for the doors, Rory following.

"I'm very serious!" Avalon huffed while the Doctor led them after their friends.

"No offence, Doctor..." they heard Rory's voice as they neared the doors.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and opened the doors. "Meaning the opposite."

"...but we could get a bus somewhere like this," Rory finished and gestured to the area they were in.

"Oh, he's not wrong, you know," she looked at the Doctor, "Not your best work." Avalon looked around and made a face at the estate. It was a bit creepy, like the ones you'd see on television...which might have given Avalon a new idea for a draft.

"The exact opposite," the Doctor sighed as he shut the doors behind them.

"Well," Amy shifted on her feet and turned for Rory, "I suppose it can't all be planets and history and stuff, Rory."

"Yes, it can! Course it can! Planets and history and stuff. That's what we do! But not today. No," the Doctor pulled out his sonic and headed for the courtyard with the others behind, "Today, we're answering a cry for help from the scariest place in the universe - a child's bedroom."

"Mm, no, you mean under the bed," Avalon remarked with a sad smile while they headed for the building. "The Sapling hated what could be under his bed."

"Are you alright, Ava?" the Doctor noticed her expression and moved closer to her.

"Yeah," she sighed. "I just...you know, the Sapling. He was a child not too long ago."

"He said he'd come back and visit soon," he reminded her and motioned behind her for Amy and Rory to help out.

"Yeah! Didn't he say he was going to take you to that jewel planet?" Amy laughed. "You'll have loads of fun with him there."

"Probably get into some trouble no doubt," Rory shook his head.

Avalon half-smiled. That sounded like their usual trips. "Yeah. Anyways, why are we here Doctor?"

They stopped in front of a lift where the Doctor hit the button then pulled out his psychic paper for them to see. Rory leaned forwards and read off it, "Please save me from the monsters. Who sent that?"

"Well, clearly, the child sent that," Avalon playfully rolled her eyes, "Get with it, Rory. Monsters, remember?"

"Yeah but I meant _who_ , as in the identity of the kid?"

"Well I suppose that's what we're here to find out, right Doctor?" Avalon looked back at him.

"Exactly, I've traced the call back to this building but I can't figure out which flat it's from," the Doctor looked around and saw the dozens and dozens of flats waiting to be searched.

"So we need to split up," Avalon gasped lightly and entered the lift as soon as the doors opened up. She yanked the Doctor inside and curled her arm around his. "And I pick you," she smiled at him.

"There's a shocker," Amy snorted.

Their search started from the very top of the estate. The Doctor excitedly brought them to the first door in the hallway and knocked before Avalon could even discuss how they should start their questioning. A couple seconds later, an elderly woman answered.

"Hello!" the Doctor cheerfully greeted her.

"Who are you?" the woman asked.

"Um, we're the inspectors," Avalon came up fast, "...and we're...inspecting..."

"Is this about the bins?"

"Did I mention bins?" the Doctor nudged Avalon for that and made her lightly sigh, "I meant, no, we're not here for bins, Miss?"

_"Mrs.,"_ the woman corrected and made Avalon roll her eyes, "Rossiter."

"Fine, Mrs. Rossiter, no we're not here for your dang bins." Again, the Doctor nudged Avalon. "What!?" she exclaimed in irritation, "We're not!"

"Look, can we come in?" the Doctor sighed as he saw this going no where.

Mrs. Rossiter frowned, "Course not! You could be anyone!"

Avalon made a face at the woman. Why was she complicating this so much? "Who else would we be, lady?"

The woman's response was slamming the door on them.

"We should've said we were from the bins department," Avalon sighed, making a mental note for next time then went off walking.

"Yeah, _that_ was the problem," the Doctor made a face and followed after her. She might be as terrible as he was when it came to interrogating. That was certainly new. He smiled after a second or so. Yes, he truly loved that woman.

~ 0 ~

After several more tries, the Doctor and Avalon were making their way down a corridor where they heard Amy and Rory's voice below. Avalon went ahead to try and get them before they lost them. The Doctor moved to follow her when he noticed a young boy peering out a window right where Amy and Rory had just walked by. He hurried after Avalon and caught her in front of the lift.

"They were coming up the lift," Avalon pointed, "So what now, then? Can't you do some thing with the TARDIS to find the kid?"

"Um..." the Doctor considered telling her he'd already found the kid, or boy, but felt like this was one of the moments where he could do things on his own and keep her safe. He didn't exactly know what he was dealing with and he'd rather find out on his rather than have her beside him and in danger.

"Doctor?" Avalon's voice brought him back to the conversation, "So, can you?"

"Um, no, no, it was far too vague," he shook his head.

The lift went off and the doors opened up to reveal Amy and Rory inside.

"Hey! Any luck?" Amy asked them.

The Doctor cleared his throat and answered, "Three old ladies, a traffic warden from Croatia and a man with ten cats."

"What are we actually looking for?" Rory sighed and stepped out the lift with Amy. It would definitely help to have some significant details about the child otherwise they would be there all night.

"Rory, we're looking for a scared kid," Avalon shrugged, "Remember?"

"I found _scary_ kids," Amy remarked quietly. "Does that count?"

"Nope!" the Doctor shook his head. "But try the next floor down. Avalon can go with you."

"What?" frowned the ginger in question. "Why?"

"Just to shake things up!" He planted a sloppy kiss on her cheek and rushed off.

"That made zero sense," Avalon turned to Amy and Rory but both of them shook their heads at her.

"No one told you to date an alien. That was all you," Rory shrugged. "Now you gotta live with it." He ignored Avalon's indignant yelp while they waited for the lift to come back.

When it arrived, they stepped inside and Amy pressed the button for the next floor down. As soon as the doors slid shut, the lift suddenly plummeted down at maximum speed. The trio were pressed against the walls, screaming at the top of their lungs.

Afterwards, Rory was the first to wake up from what ever had happened to them. He was on the floor on his stomach inside a very dark room, "Amy? Avalon? Are you here?"

"Yeah," he heard Amy answer first, "Here. No, here! It's me!" she was crawling over to him, "And Avalon? Oh God, where's Avalon?"

"Right here, don't go crazy on me again," came Avalon's voice not too far from them.

"Oi!" Amy scolded her.

"Are you both okay?" Rory switched on a small torch just as Avalon had joined them.

"Yeah, I think so," Avalon sighed, "But I can't remember how we got in here?" she turned around in the dark room, reminding the others that they didn't remember that either.

"We were in the lift," Rory looked at Amy, "We were in the lift, weren't we?"

"Yeah, yeah. We.. I remember getting in and then it just went down _really_ fast," Amy said, still feeling a lingering pain on the side of her head.

"We're dead, aren't we?" Rory actually groaned.

Avalon snickered and glanced at him. "What?"

"The lift fell and we're dead!"

"Oh my God!"

"Avalon, _why_ are you laughing!?"

"Because of you!" Avalon was laughing far too hard for a situation like the one they were in.

"We're dead. _Again_!" Rory couldn't believe their luck, _his_ luck! He could actually say he lost count on how many times he had died...and his granddaughter was _laughing_ at him. "Avalon, stop it!"

"I can't...I can't believe..." Avalon had her hands on her knees, her entire body shaking as she continued to laugh.

Amy looked between her and Rory, having no idea who to stop first. Their family really was _that_ crazy.

~ 0 ~

Avalon was walking a couple steps ahead of Amy and Rory, doing her best to keep calm. After getting over the funny parts, the reality that they were somewhere unknown and in the plain dark settled quickly. She realized she hadn't really been on her own, in _trouble_ , without the Doctor since Berlin happened and she wasn't liking it one bit. She swallowed hard as she continued creeping through the dark. What if the Silence were right around the corner? Or Kovarian?

She came to an abrupt stop with those thoughts. She bit her lower lip and looked around the spot, actually yelping when Amy bumped into her. "AH!"

"What!? What is it!?" Rory spun around trying to find the immediate danger to them.

His cries only made Avalon scream again, which then caused Amy to frantically try to calm her down. Avalon had no idea how River managed to live with the threat of the Silence for so long without going crazy, especially since she did it on her own. At least _she_ had the Doctor, Amy and Rory, who, while were very annoying with their overbearing protectiveness, were always there for her.

"Avalon! Avalon, there's nothing!" Amy finally managed to break through Avalon's scream cycle and, with one hand stretched backwards, she stopped Rory from spinning. "Avalon! Hey!"

Avalon caught her breath and looked around. The darkness still didn't make her feel better but at least there were no Silence or...Kovarian. "Sorry, sorry."

"It's alright," Amy said, comfortingly rubbing her hands over Avalon's arms. "You can go back to laughing at Rory if that helps."

Rory rolled his eyes at his wife but yes, that was something Avalon could do if it made her feel better. "Yes, fine. Ava, you're okay."

Avalon nodded, convincing herself that she was being a bit too ridiculous right now. They needed to focus on finding out where they were after all. "Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize," Amy gave her a smile that was only partially seen through the dark.

Avalon tucked some curls behind her ears, licking her lips nervously as she scanned their area one more time. "It's just I keep thinking that maybe the Silence found us again."

"That's natural," Rory hated to think that way because he would give anything to make that fear go away. "It'll be a while before...before things go back to normal."

Avalon shook her head. "It's more than that, though. Have you guys thought about Lake Silencio anymore?" Amy and Rory exchanged mutual looks before awkwardly shifting away from their granddaughter. Avalon groaned and followed after them. "Don't do that! You _have_ thought about it, right?"

"...of course we have," Amy muttered, picking up her pace with Rory.

"Why wouldn't we?" Rory sighed. "It's more crucial now that you went off and..."

Avalon stopped walking, forcing them to do the same and turn around. "I couldn't help it, Rory," she said quietly.

Her grandparents stopped walking and through the darkness Avalon heard Rory go ' _Oof_ ' as if somebody had hit him.

"That's not what I meant," Rory said after a moment. "Of course we've thought about Lake Silencio, especially because we know it's going to hurt you the most, Avalon."

"It's already hurting, actually," Avalon admitted. She hurried to where they were. "Because it's still a possibility and lately I've been wondering about that astronaut. What if...what if it was me?"

"What!?" Amy was about to tell her how crazy she was sounding but Avalon quickly added an explanation. She'd been giving the event many thoughts lately.

"Just hear me out! Why would the Silence take _me_? I mean, no offence, but shouldn't it have been Amy?"

"Offence taken," went the grandmother in question.

"Look, you're River's Mum. They could've taken you or, maybe even Rory. But they took _me_. Why take me unless...unless they wanted me for something else."

Yeah, _leverage_ , Rory thought and unknowingly Amy thought the same. Kovarian had played it just right with the only person none of them could ever harm. If she'd taken one of them, they would've easily given their lives to protect Melody and ruined her plans. But she took Avalon instead, making it so that even River couldn't get near to extract Avalon from their hands.

But maybe Avalon's words had another truth to them. What if Kovarian had a second agenda in mind for her? Why force her to kill the Doctor in Berlin when she had raised Melody to do just that? Even Melody was confused (and angry) at the fact that her entire life's purpose had been changed at the last moment to accommodate Avalon's presence. She had even erased Avalon's memories in the end, like there was something she didn't want Avalon to know about and tell any of them.

"What if _I'm_ the astronaut and I kill him?" Avalon whispered. "I would rather die myself than do that."

"Please don't say that," Amy begged. She had lost her baby and she was not going to lose her granddaughter too.

"Listen, right now, right now we have to make a plan. A plan to stop that future from happening."

"You can't. Remember what River said-"

"With all due respect, I don't care what River had to say! I'm not letting the Doctor die and I'm sure as hell not going to be the one to do it!"

"What do you even have in mind?" Rory dreaded to think how much time Avalon had thought about whatever ideas lurked in her head.

"The future Doctor came back in time to see us, and now that I've had time to think about it...didn't it seem like his 'hello's' were like someone who hadn't seen us in a long time?" Avalon sure thought it was. The Doctor she traveled with at that point in time did not hug her the way the Lake Silencio Doctor had. He held her so tightly and the smile on his face...it was the same way he smiled at her right now.

"God, how long do you think it was for him?" Amy asked.

"I don't know," Avalon sighed. "But I'm guessing it was a very long time. That means that the Doctor right now will eventually leave...or...maybe something happens to us. Whatever reason it is, we have to make sure that he _doesn't_ leave us."

"And make sure we don't _die_!?" Rory flapped his arms to their current situation.

Avalon rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that too. So can we do that? Can we just...keep our eyes peeled for anything suspicious?"

"Avalon, we can _try_ but the Doctor is still the Doctor," Amy thought that alone was an explanation for the choices the Doctor made, but Avalon wasn't going to settle for that. "He could have a plan that we don't know about. He's got a big head, none of us know what he's thinking about."

"You're right but I'm sure of one thing," Avalon said with a tightened jaw. "He wouldn't just leave me like that. He wouldn't choose to leave me behind."

That sounded right, but it begged the question why he did it once. Avalon was afraid of the answer.

~ 0 ~

"You know it's obvious what's happened," Rory began to say, disliking the silence that was taking them over. They had continued to explore their surroundings without much success. He'd only acquired a torch from another hallway but that was pretty much it.

"Yeah? Really?" Amy scoffed lightly, "Because it's not obvious to me. How about you Avalon?"

"Not in the least," their granddaughter shook her head.

"The TARDIS has gone all funny again. Some time... slippy... thing," Rory sighed. "You know, the Doctor's back there in Eastenders-land and we're stuck here in the past. This is probably 1700 and something."

"One of my favorite years," Avalon remarked and went along with his words.

"Oh yeah, you know, definitely Avalon," Amy began as well, "Big dresses and parties and-"

"Well if it's royalty then why not?" Avalon shrugged, "All the dances and the dresses, the jewels, and the princes you can dance with," she sighed with content, "Doesn't that sound lovely?"

"Did you forget the part where they're all stuck-up snobs?"

"Not everyone, the Doctor says that he once met a French mistress who turned out to be really nice unlike the others of the French Court."

Amy scoffed, "Oh brother."

"What?"

"Did he tell you _who_ that mistress was? And _why_ she was very nice?"

"Um, I think was something with Pompadour...no..."

"Yeah, that's her," Amy laughed, "She snogged him the moment she was a young woman."

At that, Avalon stopped walking and forced them as well, "Come again?"

"Yeah, he said something about the woman's life being spread around some old spaceship with clock robots and stuff. He became her imaginary friend which then turned out to be a little something, something," Amy nudged her, "You get it?"

"I'm going to kill him," Avalon declared. "Forget what I said, I'm gonna kill him right now."

Amy burst into laughter. Rory shook his head at her. The Doctor would be paying big time for that one.

Avalon stalked ahead, coming into a kitchen. She made a face at it and wondered what kind of house it was because the closer she looked at it, the shinier things seemed. "It's plastic," she realized after a moment.

"What is?" Rory asked her.

Avalon picked up a loaf of bread that was on the table and tossed it over to him, "It's _plastic_. This entire room's plastic. Look around," she gestured.

Amy picked up a pan off the counter and tapped her knuckles against it. "Hm. You're right."

"That's copper," Rory pointed at it. it had an orangey shade to it that shined through the darkness.

"No, it's not. It's wood," Amy said safer after another study. "It's made of wood and just painted to look like copper."

"That...is stupid."

"Ah!" They heard Avalon and turned to see her grabbing a lamp off a shelf. She managed to turn it on and give them a better idea of what they were looking at. "I told you this entire thing is fake. Plastic things and other things painted to look a certain way."

"Well, not seventeen hundred and something, then." Rory wandered over to a couple of drawers. He went through them and found nothing significant...not like Amy did. The moment she yelled, he darted to her side and yelped himself. He slammed shut the drawer responsible for their momentary fright.

"Wow, you guys are cool," Avalon declared from the other end of the room.

"Shut up," Amy hissed. She carefully opened the drawer again and peered inside. A huge eyeball stared back at her. "It's...it's glass. It's a glass eye."

"No way, let me see!" Avalon hurried over, only stopping midway because her lamp flickered on and off.

"Avalon, not funny!" Rory snapped.

"What? It's not me!" Avalon tapped the lamp lightly. "Stop it!"

"Something else is doing that," Amy grabbed the fake copper pan as a weapon. "C'mon!"

They hurried towards the other door in the room in hopes of getting the hell out of the creepy place.

~ 0 ~

The small family found the front hall of wherever they were in. Rory went for the front door while Avalon and Amy walked round the large entrance room.

"At last." But Rory groaned suddenly and made both gingers look over at him.

"What is it?" Amy called.

"No doorknob!" Rory exclaimed as he patted the doors.

"And this clock," Avalon was studying the large clock in front of her, her hand reaching to touch the numbers, "The hands are painted on."

"What?" Rory turned for them, forgetting the doors.

"I told you this place was all plastic," Avalon frowned, "And no doors? Painted clocks? This is like one great plastic house!"

Suddenly, they heard the sound of a child's laughter and made the trio turn around. Immediately, Rory and Amy stepped in front of Avalon, Rory putting a finger on his lips and motioned for them to walk towards the other door. They entered a different hall and walked silently when they heard more laughter.

"You hear that or is that just me finally going crazy?" Avalon whispered to them.

"No, we hear it too," Rory was careful as they went forwards.

"So why exactly are we going towards it?" Avalon stopped and pulled them back.

"She's right," Amy's eyes widened as she heard louder laughter. "They're getting closer!"

"They?!" Rory whisper-exclaimed.

Avalon sighed and crossed the room where another door laid. She slowly opened the door with her friends right behind her, with makeshift weapons in their hands. She opened the door and winced as Amy and Rory screamed when they saw a life-size doll with a large, chipped head.

"It's a _doll_ ," Avalon scolded them and stopped their yelling.

"This is... weird," Rory declared.

"Says the time-travelling nurse," Amy mumbled and made Avalon snicker.

"And the time traveling kissogram," she decided to add while she tapped the doll's head, "It's hollow..."

"Let's just... leave that for now. Come on," Rory reached for her arm and pulled her back, closing the door and turning for a new direction, "Why aren't there any lights? I miss lights. You don't really miss things till they're gone, do you? That's what my nan used to say, "You'll never miss the water till the well runs dry.""

"Rory, rambling," Avalon remarked.

"Except light I mean, not water. Lights are great, aren't they? I mean if this place was all lit up, we wouldn't even be worried at all."

"Rory!" Amy exclaimed, "Avalon's right, you're rambling. Stop panicking, will you?"

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry," Rory cleared his throat.

Suddenly, they stopped when another man came running down the hall towards them, "Help me! Please! Keep them away from me! Keep them away!" Behind him was one of the life-sized dolls they'd seen coming behind the man. It grabbed him by the neck and forced him on the floor. The trio watched in horror as the man slowly turned into one of the dolls.

"I take it all back. Panic now," Amy nudged Rory. He nodded and started running with her and Avalon away from the dolls, screaming.

"Don't run away. We want to play!" the dolls laughed as they came after them.

They quickly entered a room and slammed the door on the dolls faces. They leaned against the doors while the dolls tried pushing their way in. Rory looked down under the door and saw the shadows of the dolls moving away, making them feel a bit more relieved. However, that didn't lost very long when the dolls returned and banged on the door.

"We need to lock this door!" Avalon exclaimed and yelped as the door started opening a bit.

"There isn't a lock!" Rory gestured to the empty spot beside him.

Together, they managed to push the door close again and Rory reached for a giant spool of thread and placed it in front of the door. They backed away from it and looked for another way out.

"We can't stay in here," Amy grew frantic as she saw no more doors for them to go through, "We've got to get out!"

"Lovely idea," Avalon sarcastically remarked, "Any suggestions?"

"Take control," Amy took a breath, "Take control of the only thing we can. Letting them in!"

"She's finally lost it," Avalon pointed, "Are you telling us to let them in?"

"We surprise them," Amy tried to explain her abrupt plan, "We open the door and we push past them. Kick them. Punch them. Anything. You're freakishly strong, it should be a piece of cake!"

Rory looked at the door where the banging wouldn't cease and sighed, "Okay..."

They returned to the door and Rory grabbed a mop for a weapon. Avalon and Amy moved the spool and let the door open, one of the dolls falling to the floor.

"Go!" Avalon exclaimed.

Rory pushed past the other doll with the mop and ran out. The gingers followed but Avalon gave a yelp when one of the dolls caught her, "No!" she cried.

Amy angrily snatched the mop from Rory and whacked the doll with it, not about to let her granddaughter be taken by some stupid doll. As _if_! She quickly helped Avalon get up from the floor she'd fallen. But as she pushed Avalon forwards, the doll that had originally fallen into the room was back and grabbed Amy.

"No! Please, no!" Avalon watched in horror, along with Rory, as Amy was turned into one of the dolls, "It's my fault!"

All three dolls were now coming after them and with only a mop to defend themselves, it was a one-way battle. Eventually, they were backed away into the entrance room they'd been in earlier, along the top of the stairs. Fortunately, or not, they were going to bump into the Doctor and another man, Alex, who were being backed _up_ the stairs by more dolls.

"Rory! Avalon!" the Doctor would've cheered if they weren't being caught between dolls.

"Where've you been!?" Avalon snapped at him but still hugged him tight.

"Been busy, you know, dolls and stuff," the Doctor considered and took a long sigh. He'd wanted her to stay away from danger and it still caught up with her!

"Doctor! Any ideas?" Roy called as he swayed the mop against the dolls in front of him.

"Working on it...where's Amy?"

"It's my fault," Avalon shuddered a breath as she pointed to the redhead doll on the left of the dolls coming down the stairs.

The Doctor's eyes widened in horror and started shouting, "George! George, you have to face your fears. You have to face them now! You have to open the cupboard or we'll all be trapped here forever in a living death! George! George, listen to me! George! George listen to me! George! Please! George, you have to end this! End this end this. End this now!"

And suddenly, the dolls all stopped right when they had the trio locked between them. The Doctor peered down and saw a young boy, George, standing in the middle of the room, looking terrified.

"George! George! You did it! You did it! It's OK, it's all OK now. Everything's going to be fine," the Doctor assured him but the dolls started moving towards the boy down the stairs, "No. No. No, no, no, no, no! George, you created this whole world. This whole thing, you can smash it! You can destroy it!" but the boy shook his head in fear, "Something's holding him back. Something's holding him back. Something..." he then recalled the fact that George had been afraid upon meeting him because he thought he was being sent away, "That's what did it. That's what the trigger was," the Doctor turned for the other man, the adoptive father of the boy who was in reality an alien, "He thought you were rejecting him. He thought he wasn't wanted. That someone was going to come and take him away."

Avalon and Rory looked down at the boy who was trembling with fear as the dolls moved towards him, "Doctor, they're getting closer to him, why are they doing that?" she looked between the two men.

"Well, we...we talked about it," Alex began.

"Yeah, and he heard you, Alex. A Tenza's sole function is to fit in, to be wanted, and you were rejecting him," the Doctor frantically tried to make the man see the point.

"You were rejecting your own son?" Avalon frowned and looked back at Rory, "See, this is exactly why I didn't want to look for my birth mother," she muttered and missed the look Rory did to the side.

"We just couldn't cope. We needed help!" Alex continued and glanced back at George.

"Oh, great," Rory was once again fighting off remaining dolls from them.

"Yes, but George didn't know that. He thought you were rejecting him. He still thinks it," the Doctor pointed down to the oncoming dolls for the boy.

"But how can we keep him? How can we? He's not..." Alex began but stopped to look back at George again, seeing the dolls surrounding him.

"Not what?"

"He's not...human."

"No..."

"DAD!" they heard George shout from below.

Alex pushed the large scissors to the Doctor and ran down the stairs, pushing away the dolls nearing him. He was able to take George from the dolls and hugged him, "Whatever you are, whatever you do, you're my son. And I will never, ever send you away. Oh, George. Oh, my little boy."

"Dad," George sniffled and hugged him back.

"What's happening...?" Avalon looked around as a bright, white light took over the place.

Next thing they knew, she, Rory and Amy were back on the lift that was opening its doors to a sunny morning. The three stepped out, shaken by what had happened, but none more confused than Amy wa.

"Was I...?" she questioned as they stepped out the lift.

"Yeah," Rory nodded.

Avalon hugged Amy from behind in gratitude and relief of the events that had happened. Amy looked at Rory and smiled at the action before hugging Avalon back. Yeah, she was a grandmother, a grandparent, but she was doing a very good job.

~ 0 ~

Eventually, the Doctor found his companions all sitting on a low brick wall. Avalon saw him first and jumped out of her spot, running up to him in a big hug and a surprise kiss. The Doctor held her tightly for a minute, taking in the guilt he felt for putting her in danger again. It seemed like no matter how hard he tried, it never worked out.

"I'm so sorry," he pressed a kiss to her hair.

"Don't do that," Avalon warned and pulled away. "Don't do that because you have something bigger to deal with right now."

"What is it?" He quickly looked over to Amy and Rory, thinking they'd gotten hurt but instead they were nervous...nervous _for_ him.

Avalon was glaring daggers at him just before she pushed him away. "Tell me, when you mentioned that French mistress you knew so well...you forgot to mention the part where you snogged her!"

The Doctor was stunned at the accusation but he soon realized where, oh where, she could've possibly learned that. He turned the dagger-glare onto Amy and Rory. "You are dead to me, Ponds."

"It was _her_! I didn't do anything!" Rory pointed at Amy who gaped at how quickly he sold her out.

"You traitor!" She got up and moved for the TARDIS, prompting Rory to do the same.

"You did it!"

Avalon groaned at the pair and continued her own battle with the Doctor. "You are such a liar!"

"I did not lie! I just...omitted some parts!"

"That's lying! You liar! Don't expect me to kiss you anytime soon!"

The Doctor rubbed his face in frustration. " _Why_ are we even giving this the time of day? It doesn't matter! You weren't even born when that happened!"

Avalon waved him off and turned for the TARDIS. "Oh, sure, use that excuse!"

"It's not an excuse! It's literally what happened!"

"Sure!"

"Oh my God..." The Doctor had to take in a deep breath before following her. She was incredibly crazy but then he heard the argument her grandparents were having inside the TARDIS and he realized Avalon never stood a chance. "You're all crazy," he mumbled under his breath then put on his best smile for his grumpy Ava. He'd have to apologize (even if she really hadn't been born yet) but it would be a fun time afterwards. "Ava, my Ava..." he went towards her.

"Leave me alone!" She snapped but he just laughed.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I loved writing that ending because it's so stupid but so in-character for Avalon xD. I also really like this chapter because it kind of focuses on the Ponds this time around, _all_ of them! P.S I also loved writing the little interrogation moment from Avalon and 11. It was hilarious!

Next chapter is an original one and features the return of someone special! Anyone wanna take a guess? ;)

As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is **"saiilorstars"**


	24. With Love, Z

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor takes Avalon to see an old friend down the 1920s French Riviera. At the end of the night, they finally say a couple things that they've been struggling to keep hidden.

An angry Avalon stormed down the corridors with an equally angry Amy following her. It seemed like no matter how quick she walked, Amy was just as quick. She hated this unintended synchronicity.

"You are just wrong, Amy!"

Amy huffed. "Am not!"

"Are too! They gave me the dress! It's mine and I'm not giving it back!"

"But where the hell are you even going to wear a Louis Vuitton gown!? Leadworth!?"

Avalon audibly growled that even before she made it to the console, both the Doctor and Rory heard it. They also heard Amy's shout afterwards. The two men shared a dreadful look. It wasn't odd that Avalon and Amy disagreed on something to the point of arguing loudly. They were very similar in personality traits which often made them butt heads.

"Any idea what they're arguing about?" The Doctor quietly asked Rory.

"Nope." Rory's gaze lowered to the glass floor. "Is it too late to hide?"

"AMY! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Avalon stormed into the room with a look of death on her face.

"That would be a yes," the Doctor mumbled to Rory before dashing to meet Avalon. He put on his best smile for her, extra cheery for good measure. "My Ava! You are looking lovely today!"

"WE'RE NOT FINISHED!" Amy came in shortly after, startling everyone in the room.

Avalon whirled around. "Yes we are! It's my dress and I'm keeping it!" She then turned right back to the Doctor, suddenly wearing a pout. "Fairy Tale Man, she wants me to give back the gown that Louis Vuitton gave me! Tell her I don't have to!"

"Uh, she does, because it's not right," Amy came up beside them, arms folded, "It's a priceless gown that Avalon practically stole. The only reason Louis Vuitton even let you have the it is because you already had it in your arms. He was being polite. Rory, tell her she has to give it back!"

Rory's eyes widened. "Uh, well…"

Avalon turned back to Amy, glowering at her grandmother. "Don't bring Rory into this!"

Amy did the same. "You just brought the Doctor into it!"

Said man was quietly retreating from them, moving back until he was standing next to Rory. Their heads turned from one angry ginger to the other, trying to follow their argument while simultaneously attempting to cut in and stop them. It sounded ridiculous, really, and after a few minutes they stopped trying to interrupt them. Maybe if they got it out of their systems, it would all end nicely...they foolishly hoped.

"I'm right!" Amy snapped, but Avalon scoffed.

"You wish, Pond! _I'm_ right!"

"Rory, tell her I'm right!"

"Doctor, tell her _I'm_ right!"

And suddenly, both gingers were looking at the Doctor and Rory, waiting for them to agree with each of them. It left a very terse air in the room.

Rory, on his part, swallowed hard with fear. "Seriously, is it too late to hide?"

The Doctor's eyes did flicker to the console for a moment as he truly considered the idea. "There's always a black hole we could jump into."

"You want to jump into a black hole?"

The Doctor was halfway nodding his head when Avalon growled at the two. "You two are cowards!"

Giving up their delirious plan of escape, they went to gather up their angry Ponds and separated them.

"Instead of arguing, why don't we go somewhere?" The Doctor asked them, bringing back his cheery smile that Rory quickly adopted as well. "I've been meaning to take Ava somewhere important, just been waiting for her to get a little bit better."

The curiosity got the better of Avalon as the Doctor suspected it would. "Where would that be?" She asked him with glimmering eyes. "Another fashion designer? I could definitely do with meeting, say, Coco Chanel?"

"No more fashion designers," Any sternly said, making Avalon look back at her and stick her tongue out. "Avalon!"

"No, no, well, there might be since we don't know exactly who's-"

"Doctor," Rory purposely cleared his throat, making a motion for him to skip over that part before it caused another argument.

"Right, it's a surprise! So," he turned to face Avalon, "Go find a dress for the 1920s! We're going to the French Riviera!" He laughed at how wide Avalon's eyes got in just a few seconds.

"Seriously!? The 1920s!? French Riviera!?" She repeated everything she heard just to make sure that it was all correct. She squealed when he nodded his head. "Oh my God! The 1920s! I love it! Amy! We need dresses!"

"What-" Amy barely had time to say when Avalon reached for her wrist and yanked her towards the corridor.

All arguments forgotten for sure.

"Nice save," Rory said to the Doctor when they were alone.

"Mhm, I've got a whole list of places I have in case I ever get into trouble with Avalon. You should probably make your own for Amy."

"But is taking Avalon to the 1920s a good idea? She's doing a lot better with her health and the 1920s aren't exactly that clean…"

"She will be just fine," the Doctor assured him. "Just, um...no alcohol. Bit early for that to re-enter her system."

"Have you _met_ Avalon!?"

The Doctor nodded his head but there was no way he was taking the 1920s away from Avalon. Her grandfather was more than welcomed to try. _He_ would not be the fool.

~0~

Somewhere along the dressing up process, Avalon lost Amy. That was just fine with both of them. They were no longer arguing but Amy couldn't see why Avalon put so much effort into the dressing up part. Usually all gowns for them were so uncomfortable, but Avalon was Avalon. She went above and beyond to get herself ready. She was finished before Amy and before returning to the console room, Avalon stopped by her bedroom first. She grabbed her journal - she was more inspired to write ever since she read her work to the children at Leadworth - and grabbed a cute cream-colored purse to stuff it into. She was coming out of her room when the Doctor called for her name.

"There you are!" He should've known that she would come back to her bedroom first. He was aware of her writing habits coming back to her and he couldn't be more happy for her. She wasn't letting anyone see what she was writing but she did promise him that when she thought her work was good enough, he'd be the first to see it.

"Doctor…" Avalon was breathless at the sight of him, much like he was with her. For the first time ever, he had changed for the era they would be visiting. He wore a white button-down shirt tucked under dark brown pants. She could see red suspenders matching his red bowtie. But what really drove things for Avalon was the fact he'd chosen a very familiar coat to go with his outfit. "That's the coat I told you about a while ago...the one you wore in Berlin." He'd chosen to abandon his tweed jacket for the day in favor of the thicker dark brown coat he'd found for Berlin (or rather the coat Lena forced on him because he'd been avoiding a proper change while searching for Avalon and Melody).

The Doctor grinned with the effects his wardrobe change caused. He was hoping for something like that. "Since we're going to the 1920s, I thought I'd go for a little change."

"I love it," Avalon stepped closer to him, her hands going back and forth as if unable to decide what to do with him first.

"And I love your dress! Look at you!" the Doctor looked her over, losing breath like Avalon had earlier. Visiting the 1920s was such a good plan!

Avalon's hair was left down with only a white headband with matching white feathers to keep it out of her face. Her lips were painted a rose-gold shade, matching the dress she'd chosen for the day. It was a pastel pink, beaded flapper dress that was a the bit on the daring side with its fitted form and low cut neckline. There were shiny pearl beads near the hemline above the layer of white tassels. The same pearl beads, with a touch of smaller golden beads, made up the straps and…

"Check it out!" Avalon smirked and turned her back to him, revealing the dress's _very_ low backside was made up of plunging pearl straps instead of fabric. It was a shock as it was...the most the Doctor had ever seen of Avalon's body and it was...doing things to him. Avalon turned back to the Doctor, her smirk widening to the edges of her face. "I picked good, huh?"

"Yes…" The fact he was momentarily speechless spoke volumes of what he thought. She was always stunning but to see her show off like _that_ was just further confirmation. "You look amazing, Ava," he gingerly touched her hips.

Avalon was past the careful touching. She had decided what she wanted to do first. "I'm hot, you're hot, that equals…"

She pushed him against the wall and kissed him. She slipped her hands under his coat to grab onto his suspenders. Though initially surprised, the Doctor caught onto the game fast. He moved his hands to her back, absolutely loving the feel of her warm skin under his fingers. He could really just stay there with Avalon for hours (and hours) touching her and kissing her, especially when she seemed to love letting those hands of hers wander over his body.

Avalon pulled away from his lips but that was the only thing she did. Her body was still pressed against his. "Seems like we're both out of words." She smirked at him then added, "And out of lip gloss, it seems."

"Faint taste of strawberry again," the Doctor proudly said. He long ago perfected that talent of recognizing her series of lip glosses and lipsticks. "That's my favorite."

Avalon laughed. "Right. I'll need to re-apply again." And it just so happened that her Rose-Love lip gloss was one of the things in her purse.

"If you don't get off me I wouldn't even bother doing that." He was sure that she was purposely pressing even more against him.

"Ooh, someone's bold today," Avalon bit her lower lip and finally stepped away from him. "But I really do want to see what's in the French Riviera so I'm going to press pause on this."

" _Pause_?" The Doctor caught on, another smile coming to his face. He liked that idea very much.

"Let's go," Avalon linked her arms with his. If they stayed where they were, she would lose the little control she was clinging to.

~ 0 ~

It was a pretty warm night in the French Riviera, perfect for the dress Avalon chose. She still couldn't believe the reactions it got from the Doctor then Amy and Rory a short moment afterwards. Sometimes, things were just too easy. Now the group walked along a path leading up a hillside, none of them knowing where they were going except for the Doctor. He kept telling them to trust him, that he had the perfect spot for them and that they really needed to issue some patience. They almost laughed in his face when he started going on about patience.

"You all need to be kinder," the Doctor muttered to them as they came up to a beautiful two story building on the hillside above the sea. Lights were flashing as people kept arriving. One could easily tell there was a party going on.

"I don't know where we are but I know that I'm going to love it," Avalon's smirk promised fun times.

"It's the Villa Saint-Louis," the Doctor told her, and Amy and Rory, but he seemed to hold onto her arm that curled around his in a tighter manner. "And before I start with anything else, Avalon, it's imperious that you listen to this. You're _cannot_ drink tonight."

Her smirk fell to the ground in that one moment. She uncurled her arm despite his grip on it and turned to him. "What the hell do you mean? I've not touched a single drop of alcohol in, what, half a year?"

"Yes but we can't risk you intoxicating yourself right now, especially in a place where emergency medical attention can't be delivered as quickly as we're used to. And I need certain tools!"

Avalon folded her arms, huffing like a child. "You don't just bring me to the 1920s, in the French Riviera, and then tell me not to drink outside the door of a party!" She gestured towards the building.

"Avalon, you're overreacting," Rory said. "The Doctor's right. You've been making very good progress and you're not going to ruin it because you want one glass of vodka."

Avalon groaned. "I thought we were done with this!"

"Done with what?" Amy curiously asked.

"This!" Avalon's wild gestures now went to them. "You've been looking after me nonstop for months now! I thought it was finally going away because we started travelling again but...no, you all still see me as the fragile doll you rescued from Berlin. Well, it's _not_ Berlin and I am okay! So just stop with all these rules! You know I hate them!"

"Ava, the last thing I want is to upset you, I just want to be cautious." As the Doctor said those words, Avalon groaned all over again.

"You are so lucky we are in public or I would kill you on the spot!"

"Avalon, quit being a baby and just stay away from alcohol!" Amy hissed at her granddaughter. "It's either this or we go home. You should be thankful that the Doctor thought of this place for _you_."

Avalon had her arms folded in her angry stance but her eyes flickered to the Doctor every few seconds. He was encouragingly smiling at her in his usual goofy manner that despite her irritation with him, her heart warmed. "Fine," she huffed. "I really hate you and your stupid rules."

"And I…" the Doctor trailed off, knowing he wouldn't be able to finish that sentence with the words he wanted to, so he settled for the next truth, "I think you are positively beautiful tonight." He got her to smile at him and that was a huge win. "C'mon, there someone inside I think you're going to want to see." He unfolded her arms and took her hand, bringing it up to his lips for a kiss. "Shall we?"

Avalon sighed. "Yes. Sorry," she said very quietly.

"I know," the Doctor chuckled. He led the group up the front steps, warning them all to be cautious because " _There's important people here_ " and the last thing they needed was for history to be changed. It just made the group wonder where exactly he had brought them to.

Inside was a lovely living room, spacious too, full of fancy-dressed guests. They could feel the warm air breeze in through the open terrace at the end of the room. Avalon immediately eyed the lovely piano sitting in the corner of the room, near the terrace. No one could recognize anyone they were supposed to be excited over meeting, at least not until the Doctor started pointing out some specific people.

"You're telling me that's _the_ Pablo Picasso," Rory had to rub his eyes when the Doctor pointed them to a man standing to their left with a beautiful woman at his side, a ballerina named Olga Khokhlova _._

"His wife," the Doctor said then added, "Well, his first one anyways. Wonderful ballerina dancer."

"Are they all painters?" Amy asked, now really taking a scan of the room in hopes of recognizing one of the big names from history.

"Nah, we've got Jean Cocteau over there," the Doctor nodded to the man across from them mingling with other guests. "He's an artist but he's also a poet and novelist. Go on then!" He motioned Amy and Rory to go talk to people.

"What are we supposed to say to them?" Rory stayed right where he was.

"I don't know, invent something," the Doctor still tossed him his psychic paper in case they stuttered too much. "You can be anyone you want with or without the psychic paper. Just please don't leave the Villa. I really don't feel like going searching for you."

"What are you going to do?" Amy arched an eyebrow at him. "Not going to sneak off, are you?"

"No, Avalon's got someone to see here," the Doctor squeezed Avalon's hand in his.

Hearing that again made Avalon look at him. "You keep saying that but I don't recognize anyone here."

"You'll see," he smirked far too mischievously for her liking. He sent her grandparents off to explore then took Avalon in the opposite direction.

"Doctor, what are you up to?" She asked him while continuing to study the guests. She had already crossed gazes with a few of them, mostly the men, and she assumed it was more of her dress they were looking at instead of her.

"Something to help cheer you up," he stopped walking suddenly to turn to her. "I know you're still a little sad about the Sapling…" True to his words, Avalon's gaze lowered. "I just want to help you out. I hate when you don't smile."

Avalon smiled without even intending to. "I would've been fine with a movie night in the TARDIS."

"I know, but I think seeing an old friend might help you out a little bit more, especially now that you're starting to write again."

"Alright Fairy Tale Man, tell me what you're doing," Avalon laughed lightly. Instead of answering her straightaway, the Doctor turned her around so she could see more guests. "What am I supposed to be lookin…" She trailed off when she spotted a familiar blonde amongst the guests. It was cut in a short bob but Avalon picked her out straightaway. "No way," she breathed in.

"Go on Ava, say hello," the Doctor nudged her only a bit because from there, Avalon knew exactly what she needed to do.

She maneuvered through the guests until she came up to the blonde-bobbed woman and tapped her shoulder. "Hello?"

The woman turned around to see the giddy Avalon standing in front of her. Her eyes widened. "Oh my...Avalon?"

"Hi!" Avalon waved a hand, unable to help her short bursts of laughter. She was more than delighted to get to see her old friend Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald again after the whole fiasco in Montgomery

"How...when... _how_ are you here?" Zelda had her own moments of laughter to match Avalon's.

"Are you upset that I'm here?"

"God no! Come here!" Zelda took Avalon into a hug that Avalon immediately responded to. The Doctor was right, it was _really_ good to see Zelda again. "Oh, it's been so long!"

"Exactly how long has it been since you last saw me?" Avalon curiously wondered. The Fitzgeralds had lived in the French Riviera for a long time and then kept coming back every so often, making it harder to pinpoint which year it was.

"Why, 4 years," Zelda pulled away and happened to look at Avalon's dress. "That is a gorgeous dress! Very daring. I love it!"

"You're looking fantastic yourself!" Avalon said, pointing then to Zelda's hair. "And you cut your hair!" It was so funny that the first time she met Zelda, she was older but now Zelda was older.

"You haven't aged a bit!" Zelda took Avalon's hands and spread her arms to the sides. "Well…" She stopped for a moment to meet Avalon's gaze, "There's something different in your eyes."

Avalon swallowed hard. Of course Zelda would notice the eyes. She was brilliant like that. "Oh, you know, just things that happen in life."

"Mm," Zelda seemed to take that to heart, like she was living it herself and if Avalon was right about her history, Zelda was. The French Riviera for the Fitzgeralds was such a turbulent era for them as people and a couple.

"Avalon," the Doctor came up behind Avalon with a rather smug smile.

She flipped her head back at him and rolled her eyes. "You utter sneak!" He specifically wanted her to meet Zelda again and she couldn't be happier for it.

"Told you," he said, dropping a kiss to her temple. "Lovely to meet you again Mrs. Fitzgerald," he held a hand out for Zelda.

"Zelda, please," the woman said, almost sounding like a plea instead of a request. She looked at the pair with a knowing smile. "How have you two been? Last time I saw you, things seemed a little rocky."

"Things got rockier...and then they got pretty good," Avalon shrugged, preferring to skip over the details of that 'rockier' period. "Really good."

"I can see," Zelda hummed with a smirk tugging at her lips.

"Why don't you and Zelda catch up while I go see where our friends have gotten into?" The Doctor was already searching for Amy and Rory despite having seen them only five minutes ago. He could never be too careful with them.

"Mhm," Avalon practically waved him off. He rolled his eyes and kissed her cheek before taking off.

"I so knew that would end up in marriage," Zelda set her hands on her hips, shooting Avalon a smug look. "Didn't I tell you? I told you!"

Avalon rolled her eyes. One of the last things Zelda told her the first time they met was that she saw something between her and the Doctor. At that time, Avalon would try her best to dissuade any ideas like those. "Yeah, but we're not really marr-"

"I do like being right," Zelda sighed dramatically. "And he did look like he cared for you, I hope you're very happy."

Avalon pursed her lips together and glanced to find the Doctor pulling Amy away from a woman. Whether she wanted to or not, her lips formed a smile. "Yeah, we are." So she let one person believe the whole marriage thing, that wouldn't be bad. She'd just tell the Doctor that she couldn't convince Zelda otherwise.

Soon, Avalon and Zelda found a spot in the living room for them, ironically struggling in the beginning even though it was Zelda's own home.

"I quite liked Paris a bit more but this is also nice," Zelda said when Avalon remarked about the lovely villa she was now residing in. "Scott says he's going to finish his novel but...we'll see." There was wavering hope in her husband's work, one that Avalon wouldn't even try to change. She read all about these troublesome years and how Scott Fitzgerald made himself and his wife miserable by drinking instead of finishing his novels. "But I'd rather not talk about my husband right now. What has Avalon Reynolds been up to in these past years?"

"Umm…" Avalon would've preferred to skip over that as well but doing that would be saying that everything after visiting Montgomery had been bad and that just wasn't true. "I have been traveling with the Doctor and Amy, you remember her right?"

Zelda nodded. "Yes, same ginger hair as yours. Sure you're not related?" She'd also made the mistake of presuming that the last time.

Avalon laughed. "No way. But she did get married to my best friend. I'll introduce you to him. Rory's a sweetheart. Um, I...I sort of…" She debated whether or not to talk about the Sapling, but if she did she would have to figure out how to explain it in a way that wouldn't freak Zelda out.

"You alright, sweetheart?" Zelda asked when she noticed the grimness setting on Avalon's face. She sighed and nodded, but it was a weak smile. "Oh, it seems like I haven't been the only one in her own rocky ship. Is it trouble with your husband?"

"No, no," Avalon said but stopped, making a face, "I mean, the only problem we have right now is he's being so overprotective. Can't drink a drop of alcohol, mind you."

"Oh don't tell me you're pregnant too!"

"What!?" Avalon's face went red fast, her arms wrapping around her stomach. "N-n-n-n-n-no! Not at all! No!"

Zelda laughed, or howled, at the sight of such a stuttering Avalon. "Sugar, you are making it far too easy here!"

"I am _not_ pregnant," Avalon shuddered at the idea. "I just...I sort of had an adopted child for a while and...well, he's left. Making his own way now."

"Oh, that's a wonderful thing you did," Zelda smiled in admiration. "I've heard people do that but none of the people I've met even think about adoption. Sad really."

"He was a very good boy," Avalon sighed. "And I just really miss him. I know I wasn't the best of Mothers - I don't know how to be a Mother - but I did come to love him. Now that he's gone I'm a little bit lost." _Among other things_. It wasn't just the Sapling's departure that left her feeling lost. Too many things had happened in a short amount of time and it was all sort of spinning in her head.

"Is that the only thing?" Zelda was clever to ask.

Avalon dropped her arms to her side, thinking by now the pregnancy thing was over. She spared a small smile at Zelda. "You really do see everything."

"I don't know about everything but I certainly know when someone's struggling. You, my friend, are struggling. What else is bothering you?"

"I...well, if we're being honest, I got into deep trouble and...and that sort of left me sick, near death…" Avalon purposely paused to see how Zelda would take the news because if it was bad then she would stop right there and change topics. However, Zelda only seemed to wait for her to continue, giving no indication that she was freaking out even on the inside. "I lost something that usually helps me stay very healthy. I was very weak for a long time. The Doctor had to take care of me, a lot...and my best friend Rory, he's a nurse. He's had me on all these restrictive diets. Beyond the biological parts, it just leaves a mark in you, you know? Makes you feel lost."

"I am so sorry that happened to you," Zelda reached over for one of Avalon's hand, giving it a friendly squeeze. "If you need anything from me, please let me know."

"I just really need my friend Zelda," Avalon didn't hesitate to say. The two shared a chuckle together.

"Well your friend Zelda could be a little bit of a better friend. I didn't even know you were coming. Though I'd never see you again."

"Part of the Doctor helping me out is taking me to these nice places, get myself back out there little by little. That included you. He, uh, he sort of found out you live here now."

"Like a detective he is," Zelda said. "I am so happy he found us, though. Truth be told, I'm a little lonely here. We've only just come up to live here so I'm still figuring myself out here."

"You'll find something to do, I'm sure," Avalon happened to see Picasso crossing the living room and remembered the painting interest Zelda would pick up soon. "Have you spoken to Pablo Picasso yet?"

"I have, actually," Zelda said with a nod of her head. "He has a dazzling mind when it comes to art. I've been eyeing the terrace as a new painting room for me."

"You should do it," Avalon said immediately, making the woman smile. "I think you would be wonderful at it."

Zelda appreciated the support. It was one of the things she always remembered from Avalon. Avalon's incredible support for her work that she hadn't even thought of doing properly. It still warmed her heart to know that Avalon trusted her enough to place her faith in stories that she hadn't even seen. A short moment later, Zelda had gotten herself a glass of wine. She had just handed Avalon a glass of ginger-ale when the Doctor, Amy and Rory found them in their little corner.

"Avalon, you can't drink!" Rory exclaimed, frantically taking the glass from Avalon.

"Rory, the fact you don't know that's ginger-ale embarrasses me," Avalon flatly said. "Me, a professional drinker, hasn't taught you what proper wine looks like?" She gestured to the glass in Zelda's hand. The blonde giggled as she raised her glass.

"Oh," Rory slowly handed the glass back to Avalon. "Sorry."

"Well, that's my best friend Rory," Avalon introduced him to Zelda, figuring she'd seen enough to know what he was like in general. "And you remember my friend Amy."

"Nice to see you again," Amy waved a hand. "I love this place by the way. Thinking of moving here." She flashed a smile at Rory, making the man groan.

"No, no we're not."

Amy still smirked like it was actually happening.

"I am truly thankful that you brought Avalon back to see me, Doctor," Zelda saluted her glass to him. "I could use a good friend for a while."

"Don't get used to her though, I have to take her back home soon," he warned as he came to sit on the armrest of Avalon's seat. "She's on a bit of schedule, you know."

"Oh, I know," Zelda laughed as she watched Avalon's face fall flat again. She really did not like that routine. "Keep doing it, though. Somebody's got to take care of her or who knows what trouble she might get into."

Avalon snorted. "You're one to talk!"

"I am, aren't I?" Zelda smirked before laughing with her.

"You're terrible!"

"Zelda, dear," a slightly older blonde man walked up to the group, holding his own glass but Avalon knew that wasn't wine. It was whiskey. "Who are your friends?"

"Old friends, actually," Zelda rose from her seat to introduce them. "Scott, this is Avalon Reynolds. I met her a bit before I met you back in Montgomery. Avalon, this is my husband, Scott Fitzgerald."

Avalon got up with a polite smile. She had mixed feelings about this man and she had to do her best to keep them hidden. "Hello."

"A Brit in Montgomery?" Scott eyed her curiously. "That's definitely unheard of."

"I was being punished," Avalon threw a look at the Doctor, letting him know that she still remembered that very clearly.

"Taj Mahal," he whispered in her ear so that _she_ knew he remembered why he had 'punished' her in the first place.

She barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The Taj Mahal was still standing so there was no reason why he should be upset about it. "These are my friends, I sort of brought them along for the ride. Amy and Rory and that's the Doctor."

Scott greeted each of them, subtly commenting on their surprise appearance. Zelda blatantly rolled her eyes beside him. "Avalon wanted to surprise me," she said, quieting his questions about Rory's profession. He had already assumed the Doctor was exactly what he was called. "She stopped by the Villa, isn't that wonderful?"

"Of course," he nodded.

"And she's a talented woman too. Don't think I forgot you write too," she winked at Avalon.

"She also sings," the Doctor added, loving the reddened tinge on Avalon's face. He dropped a kiss to her hair and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Really?" Zelda's eyes widened. "You sing?"

"N-not really…" Avalon tried to say before Amy cut in.

"Yeah she does! And she's pretty damn good at it!"

"Maybe you could sing a little bit here," Zelda suddenly said, glancing at Scott. "Wouldn't that be nice for the guests? You got a singer for entertainment."

"That would be really good," he agreed slowly. As a newcomer to the French Riviera, it was important to place himself as a top tier writer. "Very good, actually. I'll get thing settled for you."

"No, wait!" Avalon's call made no difference as the man was already gone. Suddenly, she whacked the Doctor, Amy and Zelda. Rory, for good measure, stepped away before he became the next victim.

"Ow!" The three culprits rubbed their injured spots.

"How are you so strong?" Zelda shot a look at Avalon.

"I don't know how to sing in front of people!" She hissed at all of them.

"Sure you do," the Doctor said, though as soon as he did she threw a glare at him. "You have a beautiful voice."

"First you don't let me drink and now you want me to sing in front of people I don't know? In front of important people?"

"You don't have to," Rory said as a means of comfort but she snorted.

"Get real, I _have_ to now that these idiots brought it up."

"I resent that," Zelda pointed at Avalon. "And I haven't heard your voice but I do trust what the Doctor says. Just sing a little bit, please? This party is as boring as it can get. You are bound to turn things around."

"I just don't think I'm that good," Avalon sighed.

"Ava," the Doctor tugged her away from the group for a moment. "You sang with Mary Costa and for your favorite movie. What's so different about it now?"

"That it's in front of people who don't sing," Avalon looked around the room nervously. "You said it yourself. There's writers, artists, dancers...musicians. There's other musicians here. What if I don't sound as good as them?"

"You'll sound much better than them," the Doctor said with the utmost certainty. "Because you are Ava Williams! Remember that?"

Avalon playfully rolled her eyes. "Of course I do." How could she forget the alias she gave herself when she couldn't remember Rory at all.

"So go out there and share that beautiful voice of yours. Just do me a favor and remember me when everyone starts to talk to you, alright?" The Doctor cupped her face as she laughed. "I mean it. You're stunning in that dress. Eyes wander and lips are tempting."

"And yet the only temptation I have right now is to snog you up against that terrace over there," Avalon flashed a smirk at him.

The Doctor spared a glance at the terrace and immediately thought up that scenario. It ended very nicely and a few loose beads on the ground. Soon, there was a bright blush on his face. "You are absolutely paying for that," he warned now that he couldn't get the image out of his head.

Avalon snickered at him. "Okay, now I can sing." She gave him a kiss on the lips, purposely kissing him a second time just on his lower lip for extra flair.

"Oh, I hate you," the Doctor huffed as he watched her leave.

"No you don't!"

No, he really didn't.

~ 0 ~

As it turned out, one of Zelda's talents included playing the piano. It was a wonder for Avalon because it was actually something she didn't know about the woman. At least she would feel a little less lonely now that Zelda would be playing the tune.

"Evening," Avalon cleared her throat once Scott got the guests' attention. He had introduced her as an 'aspiring singer', something that Avalon wouldn't really fight him on. She didn't know what she wanted to do but singing wasn't something she was against. Now here she was, standing in the middle of the living room, all eyes on her...the eyes of very important people to history.

Avalon controlled her breathing and waited for Zelda to begin playing. She did want to make a good impression on everyone, she was just so nervous. She met her friends' gazes, all of them wearing encouraging faces. Rory was even secretly holding his phone out, no doubt to record the event. Lena would have a hoot! The Doctor was smiling at her so softly, it made Avalon's heart skip even quicker than when she was just nervous. She couldn't read his mind like he could read others but she could see, she could literally see that he really did care for her.

_And all you do is snap about him trying to protect you_. She felt guilty remembering the bits of disagreements they had earlier. She would have to make that up to him. When she heard the soft tune, she gathered up all her courage and opened her mouth. She would make a damn good show, at least for her Fairy Tale Man.

' _Why do I do, just as you say,_

_Why must I just, give you your way,_

_Why do I sigh, why don't I try to forget,_

_It must have been,_

_That something lovers call fate,_

_Kept me saying, "I have to wait",_

_I saw them all,_

_Just couldn't fall 'til we met',_

She sure captivated everyone's attention...and she liked it. No one was moving, not even a step to the side. They were all watching her...

' _It had to be you, it had to be you._

_I wandered around and finally found the somebody who_

_Could make me be true, could make me feel blue,_

_And even be glad just to be sad thinkin' of you.'_

_Some others I've seen,_

_Might never be mean_

_Might never be cross,_

_Or try to be boss_

_But they wouldn't do_

_For nobody else, gave me a thrill_

_With all your faults, I_

_Love you still_

_It had to be you, wonderful you_

_It had to be you_

Avalon finished with her eyes locked on the Doctor. Somewhere along the way she'd forgotten there were other people. She only thought of him and how she thoroughly needed to apologize...and maybe spend some time with him.

As it turned out, everyone loved the new aspiring singer. They all clapped for her, making her go as pink as her dress. Avalon found herself the center of attention, only being pulled around by Zelda who loved watching the young woman react to it all. Eventually, Avalon warmed up to the night and played along with Zelda. In no time, they were laughing away with the other guests.

"She does look happier," Amy remarked to the Doctor and Rory. They were watching Avalon like hawks in case any alcohol made it into her hands or - because both Amy and the Doctor remembered how Avalon got when she and Zelda were together - things went too far.

"I live for these moments," the Doctor admitted quietly. He was watching Avalon with the fondest of smiles. She should always be smiling and laughing, having fun. He was guilty for taking that away from her. "Kovarian has taken too much from you Ponds. I refuse to let her suck Avalon's life away too."

"You don't have to keep proving that to us," Rory said, getting the feeling it was a huge factor for what the Doctor decided to do for Avalon. "River is...fine, she's good where she is. Because she has us and Avalon."

"Yeah, but things would be so different if Avalon could've had River with her too. So I'm doing my best to give her bits and pieces of what I can to keep her happy."

"And you're doing just fine," Amy said, motioning to Avalon who had entered into a laughing fit with Zelda again. "Those two have so much power together. It scares me." She made the Doctor and Rory laugh but she was actually very serious.

~ 0 ~

As the night turned old, many guests started to disappear. Amongst the disappeared was Scott Fitzgerald himself, making the group wonder at what point did the author slip out of his own party.

"Oh, he does that," Zelda shrugged carelessly. "I go days without seeing him sometimes." She was picking up a few glasses left by the kitchen. The Villa was mostly clean thanks to the combined efforts of the travelers' and Zelda herself. It made Avalon wonder exactly who did the cleaning when it was just Zelda.

"Where does he go?" Amy curiously asked.

Zelda shrugged again, planting her hands on the kitchen table. "I have no clue. But it's got to be somewhere with a decent stock of whiskey and whatever alcohol they can find."

"And you stay here by yourself?" Rory looked out to the open terrace. The sea was calming but he didn't quite like it at night.

Zelda smiled at him. "I do just fine, thank you."

"Still," Avalon said, making her own face.

"I do have my daughter but we're still fixing things so she won't be here until next week. But what about you four, do you have a place to stay?"

"Uh, well...we were just gonna head back…" the Doctor began to say, jerking a thumb over his shoulder, "...to, er, our hotel…"

"Nonsense, you should stay here," Zelda moved out of the kitchen, stopping beside Avalon with an absolute grin on her face. "It would be so wonderful! I have spare rooms and, well...maybe I am a little lonely."

"I don't know…" Avalon wouldn't outright say it was a fantastic idea. She didn't know if the Doctor planned on letting them stay overnight. For all she knew, he might want her back in the TARDIS to run new tests on her.

Luckily for her, the Doctor knew her very well. One look at her and he knew exactly what she wanted. "I suppose one night wouldn't hurt."

Avalon's face lit up. "Yeah!" It was fairly similar the way Zelda's face lit up, like they were one of a kind together. "Oh, that'd be so much fun!"

"Well that's just perfect!" Zelda clapped her hands together. "Let me show you your rooms in case you want to turn in early."

"I sure won't," Avalon laughed behind her. "We've got loads to talk about!"

"But no leaving the villa," the Doctor warned her. "I don't want you overexerting yourself."

Avalon came by to his side while Zelda went to show Amy and Rory their room. 'Thanks for this, Fairy Tale Man. I really appreciate it. I know I'm not always very kind...I have a very big mouth."

"I think you have a wonderful mouth," the Doctor said, bringing his fingers to her chin. He tilted her head up. "I certainly lo…" He _really_ needed to control his words before they slipped out. Avalon was waiting for him to finish that sentence so he scrambled to fix it. "I think you have an adorable mouth."

She laughed. "Well thank you. And I want you to know that I'm sorry for snapping so much before. I know you're only watching out for my health."

"And I know that you're not used to it. Plus, it _has_ been a long time since...Berlin. It's hard but I really only want to make sure you're as healthy as you can be now that...that you lost your immunity abilities."

Avalon leaned up to kiss him. "Something I will never regret, alright? In case that's still lurking in your head. Never have I regretted it. If roles were reversed, I know you would've done the same for me, so...let's move on from that."

The Doctor could only nod. He was fairly sure that he would never forgive himself for making her give up such a huge part of her, a part that was responsible for keeping her safe and healthy. It was why he would always be extra protective of her. He stole something, it was only fair that he kept her safe in return.

~ 0 ~

"I love this view," Avalon said as soon as she and Zelda had made themselves comfortable on the terrace. Even though it was far later in the night, the air was still warm enough so that they didn't even have to get blankets or change altogether. The sea was calm with only a few gentle waves crashing every now and then. It truly was the perfect place to live in…

"It's nice for a while," Zelda said, shrugging lightly. She was nursing another glass of wine.

Avalon glanced at her sadly. "You don't like being here, do you?"

"I do," Zelda clarified first. She leaned forwards on her chair, eyes cast out into the dark sky. "But truth be told...I'm a little bored up here. Scott's either out with friends or trying to work on his new novel. My daughter is usually with her Nanny. I, uh...I spend a lot of time on my own or...at the beach."

"Ah, right," Avalon followed her gaze to the ocean. She suspected she knew what things Zelda had gotten up to as of late. She read about that as well.

"Can I tell you something?" There was a hint of fear in Zelda's tone that Avalon picked up on. She was still staring at the ocean, now on purpose to avoid Avalon. "I know we've met just once but I really did consider you a friend. No other friend has ever showed that much support like you did."

"Of course you can tell me something," Avalon offered Zelda a kind smile. "You can tell me anything. You and I...we really are very similar."

"Not that similar, sugar. You love your husband, I'm not sure I still love mine."

There were oh so many wrong things in that sentence that Avalon had trouble deciding which one to go with first. "I don't really...um, you think I lo...love the Doctor?" She swallowed hard as she felt the flames over her cheeks. Zelda Fitzgerald had to be a psychic, that was the only explanation for how she knew these things that Avalon wouldn't say out loud.

Zelda tore her gaze away from the ocean to smile just as kindly as Avalon had. "I can see it in your eyes. They're a bit sad and troubled but I can see it. I saw a glimpse of it the last time I saw you in Montgomery. Does he treat you nice?"

Avalon gave a nod of her head. She would let those comments slip by before anyone heard them. She wasn't brave enough to come clean to the Doctor just yet. "He does. He, um, probably over-does it sometimes."

"Well, as a wife, it's supposed to be that way. You're supposed to let yourself be pampered and petted in return for your loyalty."

Avalon laughed at that. "As in never argue with him even when he's wrong? Please. He's wrong half the time and I, as Avalon Reynolds, _have_ to tell him he's wrong."

Zelda's smile only saddened. "Does he get mad if you do?"

"More like annoyed but it's fun. We go back and forth until one of us wins. But it's never toxic, you know? It's all good-natured because...because we're the same type of people." Avalon looked at Zelda again and saw how her words affected the poor woman. She was having doubts.

"We started out so nicely," Zelda began after a moment. "It was all so nice and easy in Montgomery. Scott was full of dreams and I...I liked the sound of his perfect world. I still do but...I feel like I'm sort of floating now. Scott and I get into so many arguments. He doesn't listen to me. When we argue, it's not good-natured. Makes me wonder what happened. You should've seen us in New York, Avalon. We took that city by the horns. It was ours."

Avalon wanted to point out that that period seemed more like an extended honeymoon but that would be senseless, not to mention there was no point. Zelda was troubled enough. "What's happened?" She settled for that instead. She knew that there were very few people in Zelda's life who would listen to her without judgement. She would be honored if Zelda considered her to share with.

"There's a man I met. Edoard. He's a year younger and...he's...he promises me stability. He doesn't go around wanting to know what other people have in their lives, not like Scott. And he's kind. He...he kisses me. Scott hasn't done that anymore. Barely gives me a hand to hold."

The affair. Avalon remembered that bit in the biographies. "May I ask if you are in love with this man?"

Zelda's shoulders shrugged with an expression that screamed indecisiveness. "I'm lonely. And he offers passion."

"Can I give my two cents?"

"Please."

"Passion isn't love, it's just...passion. I've never had that. I mean, I've dated but it was more casual. Now with the Doctor, it's fun but I know that it's serious. It's not just fun kisses and fooling around. I know, I'm sure, that he cares for me. Is _that_ what Eduard offers you?"

Zelda once again shrugged. "I don't think so. It's just nice being with him, you know?"

And yet the truth Avalon knew, and she suspected that Zelda was beginning to know, was that she would always love Scott. However much they argued, whatever they threw at each other, they loved each other. If only they were a little kinder to each other.

Zelda shook her head and drowned the rest of her wine. "I'm sorry. I'm just pouring out all my feelings here. That's not what you came to the French Riviera for."

"I came to see you," Avalon smiled. "You're my friend."

Zelda met her smile with her own. "You're my friend too. You're an odd friend…"

Avalon laughed. "Oh, thanks!"

Zelda's lips stretched into an even wider smile. "No, no, you know what I mean. You're...there was always something strange about you. I remember you back in Montgomery. You seemed so lost, like you were mourning. That's what I saw in your eyes last time. That and so much conflict. Now I see it's not just that but...a long story. There's a long story in your eyes."

Avalon tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I'm not your local normal girl."

"You're not," Zelda agreed with a hum. "I think the story of Avalon Reynolds is a long, interesting one that I would love a peek of."

"Oh, it's pretty impossible. Call me the impossible girl," Avalon chuckled.

"I, uh...I have actually…" Zelda suddenly looked nervous all over again but Avalon was pretty sure it no longer dealt with her husband. "Give me a second." She got up from her chair and went back into the house, returning a few minutes later with a leather green book in hand. A _journal_.

Avalon barely held herself together at the sight of the journal. "Are you...are you writing again? Have you published _Our Own Movie Queen_?" It was only after she asked the last question that she realized it was a huge No-No.

Fortunately for her, Zelda nodded her head. She just assumed that Avalon had gotten word of her latest short story. "A few weeks back. Have you read it?"

"Aha! I love it!" Avalon grinned. "I loved the ending. Gracie sort of got some revenge and I am always impartial to women who have been wronged by men. Personally one of your best."

Zelda chuckled. "Well I thank you."

"And just so you know... _I_ know that it was _your_ story, not a collaborative effort between you and Scott."

Zelda smiled despite her obvious confusion. "How would you know-"

"Your words are not like Scott's," Avalon gently cut her off. "I would know your words anywhere."

"How?" Zelda asked. It wasn't that she didn't believe it but it still didn't answer how Avalon would know that if she never saw her work. Is the same question she asked herself back when they met in Montgomery. Avalon seemed to know a lot more about her than anyone else at that moment. There were things that she had never told anyone and yet Avalon knew them so perfectly. Truth be told, Avalon made no sense and yet she still inspired trust, which was why Zelda brought her journal out. No one, not even Scott, had seen the insides of it.

Avalon's shoulders shrugged before she could come up with a reasonable answer. "I just...I know. I really do and I know it doesn't make sense but just trust me, okay? I love your work even though you haven't published it. I know you're writing but you hate that whatever you present has to have your husband's name next to yours or that it just has to be his and only his name. I know it, and I'm so sorry."

There was no way she could know all that. Zelda had dozens of more questions but she decided to save that for tomorrow. Right now, she wanted to do something else. "I'm in the middle of writing something new. Care to lend me some of your critiques?"

Avalon's eyes dazzled when Zelda opened up her journal. That journal would be lost to history, thanks to the fire that would one day consume it, and now Zelda was actually showing it to her. "Oh my God…" She whispered when Zelda deposited the journal on her lap to scoot her chair closer to hers.

"Well go on, look through it," Zelda laughed after watching Avalon stare at the green cover of the journal for a few minutes.

"You want me to open it?" Avalon was flabbergasted, only making Zelda laugh even more.

"Yes!" And because Zelda was so impatient, she had to open the journal herself. She took Avalon through the pages she specifically wanted her to see.

Avalon had never felt so frozen in her life. Her eyes, though, were taking everything in. Every last detail Avalon took in with a rush. She recognized some drafts that would later become a published short stories throughout history and there were others that would never make it. Those were the ones that would be lost either because of Zelda's self doubt or because of the fire that would end her life.

"What do you think, then?" Zelda asked with her tongue between her teeth, absolutely nervous to hear Avalon's opinions.

"These are fantastic," Avalon laughed. "I-I would love to see these be published one day."

"Really? All of them?"

"Yes! I like this one," Avalon flipped through the pages to go back to a certain draft that would fortunately make it to the public in a few years. _The Original Follies Girl_ is what Zelda would eventually settle on for the title. "I know the ending isn't all that nice but the first part makes you want to be that girl. Somebody who everyone wants to be friends with, a somebody who's admired by people."

Zelda's lips thinned into a smile. "I think that will be you someday, Avalon. Course I think it'll be because of your work, not because of your looks, though that might also be a factor."

Avalon playfully rolled her eyes. "Right."

"I mean it. I know that your work is going to be amazing whenever you decide to publish it. And just like you once told me, _I_ in you _you_. I believe that anything you write is going to be a hit."

Avalon looked at the journal in front of her, truly touched that she was able to see such a magnificent journal. "You really think so?"

"I know so, honey!"

There was a brief moment of indecision for Avalon but holding Zelda's journal made it fade into the deepest part of her mind. "Hold on." Like Zelda had done before, Avalon left the terrace to grab her purse from the couch. She returned holding her journal against her chest. "I, um, I've never really shown this to anyone before. There's so much stuff in here." It's an endless journal, after all. The Doctor made it so. "You'll think it's crazy."

Zelda laughed with a shake of her head. "If you think it's crazy, then it means you've created fantasy. Can I have a peek?"

Avalon bit her lip as she sat down again. Before the voices started layering the self-doubt in her head, Avalon held her journal out to Zelda. "You're the first person to see it," she said as she intently watched Zelda flip through the pages. If there was anything outstanding in it, Avalon was sure she could play it off as a fantasy story, just like Zelda said. But there were true drafts she'd began that would mean a lot if Zelda took a read.

Short minutes felt like hours as Avalon waited for Zelda's verdict. Eventually, Zelda looked up with a wide grin. "You have an incredible mind. Such impossible things you write about. Metal men? Wedding crashers? A child made out of a tree!? Avalon...your mind is a cavern of stories!"

"You don't think it's weird?" Avalon studied the woman for any indication that she did think it weird and was just lying.

Zelda shook her head. "Of course not! No one else has thought of these things! And creatures that make you forget them when you look away from them? You wrote some deep things for that. The trauma, near depression...God help that poor character of yours." Zelda realized Avalon was crying before Avalon herself. She curiously watched the girl, trying to work something out before Avalon would notice it.

"All just stories," Avalon said once she checked back into reality. She rubbed her eyes and yawned for good measure, hoping she could pass her little moment off as a sign of sleep.

"Ava," the Doctor cautiously poked his head into the terrace, smiling when he found the two women. "I don't mean to interrupt but I really think you should get some rest."

"And yet you just interrupted," Avalon playfully rolled her eyes. She wasn't quite sleepy but it was futile to argue with him. Minimum he wanted her to at least try to sleep.

"Oh let him be," Zelda looked back at the Doctor with a smile. "Taking care of her must be a hassle, huh?"

"You wouldn't believe it," the Doctor relished in Zelda's support. He leaned against the doorframe, dramatically sighing. "All I want is for my Ava to take it easy and it's like she hears ' _you're never going out again_ '."

Avalon glared at him. "Funny, all I'm hearing right now is ' _you're going to die'_."

"Avalon," Zelda chuckled and handed her journal back. The Doctor was quite surprised to see that in Zelda's hands. "If you were sick and your husband wants to take care of you, let him. Sometimes it's nice to be pampered."

Avalon awkwardly coughed and avoided the Doctor's shocked face at all costs. Yeah, that one came back to bite her for not saying the truth. She got up from her chair, her journal to her chest. "I think maybe it is time to sleep."

"Well, I showed the Doctor your bedroom earlier. I even left some clothes you might want for sleep. That dress, while stunning, is not very comfortable for sleeping." Zelda watched Avalon carefully make her way around the chairs. She was immediately enveloped in the Doctor's arms. He tenderly kissed the side of her head and murmured something in her ear. It had to be something either sweet or annoying because Avalon rolled her eyes at him.

Eventually, Avalon shooed him into the house and awkwardly smiled. "He's...I apologize for his dramatics."

Zelda laughed and rose from her chair. "I think he's funny. Definitely a sweet fella who wants to take care of you."

"I was sick a while back, but I'm really better now," Avalon assured her before she started taking a leaf out of the Doctor's book.

"Still, one more night can't hurt you. If he wants to, oh I don't know, tuck you into bed, let him." She folded her arms and smirked. "Could be ground zero for some yummy times."

Avalon's face went stark red while Zelda snickered. "I think...I am going to sleep," Avalon declared.

"Mhm."

"I really hate you," Avalon shook her head.

"Oh don't be shy, sugar! It's alright!"

Avalon shook her head again and her hand. She did _not_ want to hear anymore of this. "Goodnight Zelda. I'll see you in the morning." She hurried back inside the house and was so relieved to see the Doctor waiting for her by the hallway, nowhere near the terrace. That meant she only had to explain for the husband part and not...not the second part.

"I am so sorry," she started when she pulled him into the hallway.

"For what?" he cluelessly asked her.

"Zelda just assumed that we were married and I was going to correct her, I swear I was, but she just kept talking and talking so...I sort of let it be."

The Doctor stopped walking and forced her to do the same. "Why would I be mad at that? It's not the first time someone presumes I'm married. I don't know what it is, it just always happens."

Avalon keenly studied him. "You're...you're serious? You're not upset?"

"No! So someone thinks you're my...my wife." A smile started spreading across his face. Something about that made him feel all warm inside. "That is not the end of the world."

Avalon blushed under his gaze. "Really?" She whispered. From her end, she couldn't see any problem with someone thinking she was his wife either...she just wasn't brave enough to admit it.

"Have you seen yourself, Ava? Anyone would be lucky enough to be your husband." The Doctor took her by the waist and lowered his head down for a short kiss. "I think a handful of the men at the party wished that after you sang so beautifully."

Avalon waved that off. "How unlucky for them that I was only singing to you." She went on her tippy-toes to kiss him again.

"C'mon, you really should try to rest."

Avalon dramatically groaned as he led her to their designated bedroom. "But I'm really not tired."

"You always say that and yet there's a handful of times where you end up falling asleep," the Doctor stopped by a door and grabbed the knob. "After a day like today, I'm pretty sure it's going to be one of those times."

"But I don't feel tired," Avalon insisted and slipped in-between him and the door. "I would much rather do something else." Her fingers danced along his chest as she suggestively smiled up at him.

"Don't be confused, I do love all the kissy moments but I can't let my Ava go without sleep," the Doctor tapped her nose but before he could draw his hand away, she grabbed it and settled it on her hip again. "Avalon…"

"How about this, I'm going to kiss you and if you don't kiss back then I will try to sleep," she promised with her typical sly smile. She knew exactly what she was doing, always did, and it was a shame that she always won. Her hands crawled up to his neck, loosely joining behind, and in two seconds she had planted her lips against his.

The Doctor could smell her rich lavender scent, just further adding to the unfair fight. He learned long ago that it was useless trying to fight her off because every time she kissed him, he wanted to kiss her back. Today's moment had her wearing a dress that made her simply exquisite. His hands had already found her exposed back - at what point that happened, he had no idea. He only knew that he couldn't move his hands off that part.

Avalon unwinded one arm to find the doorknob behind her because she wanted no interruptions and Amy and Rory were very good at that. She had no trouble finding it, despite being very occupied, and pushed it open. The Doctor had to hold her tighter due to the sudden loss of their support but Avalon managed to walk them inside, leaving him to shut the door behind. They fervently kissed each other while they crossed the room. The Doctor was aware that the longer they spent kissing the harder it was to want to let Avalon go. She fit so nicely between his arms and no matter where his hands roamed (or lips) on her body, it felt right. It felt like he _needed_ to touch her, feel her warm, smooth skin and keep her sweet lips plump with all his kisses.

_That's because you love her. Youloveheryouloveheryouloveheryouloveher_ -

Avalon's legs had hit the edge of the bed, knocking them both into reality. For Avalon, it was a mere nuisance that she would gladly ignore and go back to the happy kissing but for the Doctor it was a reminder. He needed self control, for his part and hers. She was still recuperating after all.

"No, don't," Avalon pouted when he untangled her arms from him. "I thought we were having fun." She looked past him to see her purse on the ground. _No idea when I did that,_ she realized with a smirk.

"I was, _am,"_ the Doctor clarified quickly before she got any ideas. "But you need your rest and this...this is not resting."

"So?" Avalon sighed. "Fairy Tale Man, I have to ask if this and sorry for being daring because I know that you blush but...do you _want_ me?"

"What!?"

"You heard me."

"Ava…" the Doctor cleared his throat, his face warm as ever and he was sure that it was red too.

"I have to ask because each time you just kind...recoil from me," Avalon bit her lower lip like it was gum all of a sudden. "It's never really happened to me before." She waited for an answer but all the Doctor did was stare at her with a smile working its way across his face. "Are you going to answer or did I just humiliate myself into the next century?"

"You asked a fair question but I'm just not sure how to answer it without...making _you_ blush." He smirked when he saw just that happening. "What kind of question is that?" He reached to touch her cheek, tracing a pattern over it. "You're intelligent, passionate, stunning...an absolute princess. Who wouldn't want you?"

"I don't care about anyone else, only you," Avalon said quietly.

"Yes, absolutely _yes."_ The Doctor was able to pull her back to him. He kept an arm around her waist while he nuzzled the side of her face. "You have no idea how much self control I've been exercising lately. You drive me crazy."

Avalon's lips twitched into a smile, soon into a smirk. "So what are you waiting for?"

The Doctor chuckled lightly, though his hearts did skip a beat at her light request. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. "Not the moment, certainly not the place." Avalon's eyebrows knitted together, puzzled until it shifted into annoyance. The Doctor sensed where her thoughts were going and turned her around so that her back was to his chest. There he lightly swayed them and pressed a kiss to Avalon's neck. "See, when I finally get to kiss and touch you the way I want to...we're going to need a room with thicker walls…"

Avalon blushed but her smirk widened. "Ah, so you're _confident."_

"Very."

"If you start saying from your experiences, I'll kill you."

"I won't if you won't. You seem to know your way around things as well."

" _Well_ …"

"What I just say?"

Avalon laughed. "I love…" She caught herself at the nick of time. _Oh my God_. She turned around wearing a usual smile. "Thanks for explaining that." She fixed his skewed hair and took in a breath. "I look forward to that moment."

"As do I," the Doctor promised. "Get some rest please. Try."

"I can't do that unless my Fairy Tale Man is lying right next to me." She shrugged and backtracked from him. Zelda had left folded clothing on the foot of the bed so she swiped it off and pointed at the Doctor. "I won't try unless you're here."

"Where else would I be?"

Avalon triumphantly grinned. In a few minutes, she had forgone her beaded dress and put on a simple silk chiffon nightgown. She wasn't that surprised it hung a bit below her knees. For a time that thought it daring, Zelda was no stranger to the different fashions. Avalon wasn't interested in the shorter styles. Her mind was stuck on the accidental near slip up from earlier. Even though it was a slip up, after everything she heard, would it really be that bad if she finally told the Doctor? Her heart pounded at the idea of telling him but there was also an excitement she couldn't deny. Maybe it was time.

With those jumbled thoughts she climbed into bed and patted the spot next to her for the Doctor to join her. She giggled when he tickled her side and brought her closer to him. Even if she wasn't tired, she could lay there with him all night (or at least what was left of the night).

"I did have fun today. Thanks for bringing me here," she said after spending some nice quiet time. "It was good to see Zelda again."

"We can come back anytime you want," the Doctor said, knowing Avalon would love the idea.

"I'd like that," she nodded, tilting her head up to meet his gaze. "She showed me her journal...and I showed her mine. I've never done that. Are you mad I never showed it to you?"

"Of course not. One day I'll get to see it," he said, tucking a few strands of her curls between them.

"I just want to make sure it's perfect before you see it," she said, biting her lip. "Zelda kinda gave me pointers on a few drafts. But I also let her see the, um, things I wrote about our travels. She thought it was fake of course. Was that bad?"

"Nah, you'd be surprised how many people in the past know about me and my, uh, unique nature, and they deal with it rather well. We've become good friends."

"I know it's silly but I really do consider Zelda a friend. She's my special friend cos, you know, she's like my writing idol. Thanks for giving me that opportunity. I never thought in my life that I would get to meet her."

"You don't have to thank me, Ava. You know I'd do anything for you." He gave her a sweet kiss on her lips.

She rested her hand over his cheek when he kept his head hovering over hers. He kept saying that, didn't he? He made her feel so special all the time. Even when they bickered she got a thrill that absolutely no one gave her...and she had done a lot of bickering with other people. Everything he did, even if he was making her try to sleep when she didn't want to, had her feeling special.

"I love you," she whispered and suddenly her eyes couldn't meet his anymore.

Initially, the Doctor couldn't really decide if he had heard her right. His hearts had started hammering the moment he thought he heard her say those words. That sure made it easier to decide. Avalon didn't repeat it, she stayed quiet and kept herself busy by playing with the buttons of his shirt.

She was waiting.

And she was incredibly nervous.

"Ava…" the Doctor gently pulled her fingers off him and kept her hand within his.

She looked at him very briefly before finding the ceiling very interesting, but the Doctor was quicker in that moment. He'd seen the nervousness in her eyes, how anxious she was to hear his response. He almost laughed. If only she knew.

"I love you," he finally told her. He laughed at how quickly her eyes snapped back to him.

"Yeah?" She still whispered but even then her voice sounded like it'd lost air. _She_ had lost air. "You do?"

"You have no idea the time I've spent swallowing these words down. I thought I'd freak you out if I told you."

"What? Why on Earth would you think that?"

"Because we've only been dating for a few months? Pretty sure saying 'I love you' months into a relationship is a huge no-no."

"And when exactly have we ever been the normal type of relationship?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to argue...then shut it. That was right. Very right. Nothing about them was normal. "I do love you."

"I love you," Avalon tested the way she would say those words from now on. She loved the way the words sounded each time she repeated them, and she repeated them several times. The Doctor eventually laughed at her but she whacked him until he apologized and said it back to her as many times as she had to 'make her feel better'.

And as it turned out, it became one of those nights where she _was_ a little bit tired. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, she was still sleeping a little more than usual due to the medication she was still on and because of her recuperating health overall. She fell asleep somewhere in the middle of their bickering, missing when the Doctor declared a triumphant ' _I win_ ' at her sleeping form.

~ 0 ~

"So sorry I can't offer you a decent breakfast," Zelda offered yet another apology to the group after setting out the little bits of biscuits and fruit she had left in the fridge. "Each party wipes us out, believe it or not. They do eat while drinking."

"It's really fine," Amy tried to stop the woman from going crazy in the kitchen but Zelda kept searching through cabinets while they watched from the table. "We're not that big on breakfast anyways."

"Nonsense, I know Avalon's on a specific diet for her health."

"Yeah, but I'm fine," went the woman in question. "Really Zelda, come sit down. We'll be leaving soon and I'd rather talk instead of watching you search for an apple."

Zelda smiled at the group, though rather nervously if Avalon had to describe it. She pressed her dress down as she returned to the table. "Avalon, can I show you something? Before you go?"

"Of course," Avalon was quick to get up from her chair. She wasn't hungry anyways.

Zelda led her back to the living room where she picked up her green journal from the coffee table. "I, um, I sort of started something last night...after we talked. I hope you don't mind but it's about you, sugar."

"Me?" Avalon blinked, pointing at herself as if there was someone else in the room and Zelda had just spoken to the wrong person.

"Yes, I think it's fitting that whatever I publish next should be about you. An impossible girl, right?" Avalon looked at the journal and Zelda until the latter pushed the journal into her hands. "Read it, please?"

Avalon silently looked at the draft. There were still notes on the margins but she saw the title clear as day. ' _The Impossible Girl_ '. A smile came to her face as she read through the lines. Despite understanding very little of the future, Zelda had managed to capture the essence of the adventures Avalon had gone through. She twisted it into her own world, making it so that Avalon still retained her beautiful human nature. Zelda made her the girl everyone wanted to be but absolutely no one _could_ be.

"I...I love this!" Avalon exclaimed with the happiest of smiles on her face.

Zelda beamed. "Really? Oh, that means a lot!"

Avalon laughed. The _irony_ of things. Her favorite author was telling _her_ that her opinion meant a lot. "Zelda, thank you for writing this. I...I can't believe you managed to make this fantasy into, well, a good story."

"Oh," Zelda gently took the journal from Avalon with an odd expression on her face. "I could only do so much to make it good, nothing to what you must have truly experienced in these moments."

The laugh and smile faded from Avalon's face. "What...what do you mean?"

"I don't understand how it's possible but...I'm fairly certain all those things you wrote in your journal are true."

"What…?" Avalon nervously laughed. "Why-why would you think that?"

"Because no one cries as sad and scared as you did last night," Zelda touched Avalon's arm with a soft smile. "And I am _so_ sorry for all the horrors you had to go through."

"Zelda, I don't know what you're thinking but it's not...it's not true. I mean, really, creatures that make you forget?" And yet as Avalon made the best argument she could come up with, tears were pooling in her eyes. It was the same sad, scared tears Zelda saw last night.

Zelda reached over to wipe a few tears off Avalon's face. "Oh sugar, no more tears. I think you've cried enough." Avalon tried her best not to cry but she was already sniffling. Zelda pulled her into a big hug. "You've gone through so much and yet you decided to come back and visit someone as insignificant as me."

"No, never," Avalon sniffed and hugged her tighter. "You're my friend. You're my friend who I wish lived near me."

"Where _are_ you from? Really?"

Avalon hesitated to answer her, but the Doctor's words flew into her mind. ' _Nah, you'd be surprised how many people in the past know about me and my, uh, unique nature, and they deal with it rather well. We've become good friends._ ' Could it be that Zelda would be one of those people for her? Something in her heart told her that she was right.

"2011," Avalon said and immediately felt Zelda stiffened. Before she could pull away, Avalon gripped the author into the hug. "I'm from a small town called Leadworth in England. I grew up learning about people in history and I always loved learning about Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald. She was my idol and I-I always wished I could meet her to tell her how much her work meant to me because I was always an outcast at home. We're very similar despite the hug gap between our lives. Being your friend has been a dream come true."

Now it was Zelda who had tears in her eyes. Avalon loosened her grip and allowed her to part. "It's impossible but it's the only way things make sense. You...you really learned about me?"

"You are _not_ insignificant," Avalon took her hands and smiled. "You are an icon. I once dressed up as you for Halloween."

"What?" laughed Zelda.

Avalon's smile widened. "I did. You have always been my inspiration to write and the day I do write something it'll be in your name. So please, please, don't let anyone tell you that your work doesn't matter, that _you_ don't matter."

"Avalon Reynolds believes in me," Zelda chuckled, remembering Avalon's very similar words she said in Montgomery. Avalon firmly nodded her head. "Well, you go back home then and think of me each time you want to scrap up whatever you drafted because I want you to pick it up and rewrite it. I believe that one day you will write an amazing book, a book so fantastic that you'll have everyone reading it. Zelda Sayre believes in you, Avalon, and she also believes that you are strong enough to keep going. Don't let those, um, Silence things and that woman win. You show 'em who's boss."

Avalon chuckled with fresh new tears in her eyes. "Oh, come here!" She encased Zelda in another hug.

Later on, when the group left the villa, Avalon excitedly babbled on about what transpired with Zelda. Amy and Rory were shocked and soon worried that Avalon had made a huge mistake revealing she was from the future but the Doctor seemed fine with it...almost like he expected it. When the Doctor had Avalon in the medbay later on, Avalon still went on about Zelda and lingered on the short story Zelda wrote about her.

"She called it ' _The Impossible Girl_ '. It was so good and not because it was about me. The way she wrote it...Doctor, don't tell me I have to make her get rid of it," Avalon gave him her best pout in hopes that this time they could let history be changed just a tiny bit.

She was incredibly lucky.

"Ava, do you remember that I told you that you had no idea how much of an impact you had on people?"

Avalon distinctly remembered that as part of his sweet words he said to her the first time they visited Leadworth after Berlin. "Yeah…"

"And then I suggested we go visit Zelda again?"

"Yes," Avalon's eyes immediately narrowed on him. "What have you been up to, Fairy Tale Man?"

It was the Doctor's proud moment to show her the short story Zelda Fitzgerald published in 1924 - with her husband's name on the same byline - under the title ' _The Impossible Girl_ '.

Avalon read the entire story and cried tears of joy. At the very end of the story was a small little letter.

' _Everyone believes the impossible is just that but sometimes, if you are truly lucky, you get to see it in person...or you get to meet **the** impossible girl.'_

_With Love, Z._

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Listen to me when i say that I literally read Zelda Fitzgerald's story throughout the early quarantine months. Words cannot express how much I love her and I fully believe that because of Avalon's personality and her own aspirations, she and Zelda really would've been good friends. I loved writing this chapter so much, I literally thought of it as soon as I finished writing the first chapter where they met in the last story. Plus, I loved writing Avalon and the Doctor finally getting to say those 'I love you' to each other. About damn time ;)

**P.S** As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is **"saiilorstars"**


	25. The Girl Who Waited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amy gets separated from each other and when the Doctor finally finds a way back, they find a much older Amy Pond waiting for them. Now he has to watch as the little cluster of Ponds (including Avalon herself) decide which version of Amy they should bring back home. It makes the Doctor ask himself if his own relationship with Avalon will one day end up as broken as Amy's and Rory's nearly was.

Can we please meet her? I promise I won't cause trouble?" Avalon was asking, or rather _trying_ to ask calmly. She was trying her best not to look as annoyed as she was. She was currently at the bottom of the console stairs against the rail with the Doctor in front of her, pressing a trail of soft kisses down her neck. She'd succumbed to him quite easily since he'd chosen to keep wearing that dark brown coat she seemed to love so much. He'd figured it out very fast. Now Avalon wasn't complaining one bit about that but she was hoping to use this current moment of pleasure for both to get something she'd been wanting for some time now.

"Jane Austen was and is one of the most renowned writers. And for someone like me, it would be amazing to meet her," Avalon explained with her best soft tone, "I think it's good to get some perspective outside of Zelda. Please, won't you take me?"

The Doctor finally lifted his head to look at her. "That depends..."

"On?"

"We get to make it a date," the Doctor smirked.

"Done and done!" Avalon quickly took the deal, "So we're going, then!?"

"Sure, why not? Haven't seen Janie in a long time."

Suddenly, Avalon's joy faltered and she put a hand on her hip, "No, hold on, you call her _...Janie?"_ she tilted her head, "So you know her then...? And you even gave her a little nickname."

"...so...?" the Doctor did not like where this conversation was headed to.

"So?" Avalon blinked and nearly pouted, "Doctor!"

"This is going bad very fast," the Doctor frowned, mightily confused, "Let's get back to the kissing, I liked the kissing, kissing was fun and peaceful."

"How long have you known this 'Janie'?" Avalon did air quotation marks, "Does she know about me now?"

The Doctor sighed. While it was a bit, or a lot, of fun to see Avalon getting so worked up over a woman he could hardly care less about, he had to stop her before she truly became angry. Last time she stopped talking to him for a week. He pulled Avalon against him and put a finger over her lips, "Ava, I happen to give nearly everyone I know nicknames," he pointed out, "I call Amy 'Pond 1', Rory 'Pond 2', and then I call Lena 'baby sister'. It just so happens that I met Jane Austen and call her 'Janie'. I appreciate Janie, and I love all our friends but it's all friendly I promise."

"But do you know if the writer likes you more than a friend?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, "Cos, she may, you know...and then when we get there...she'll take you away...and then try to kiss you or something."

The Doctor let out a small laughter, "We're friends, that's all!"

"That's never stopped anyone before!"

"Okay, but I have a you now. The only lips I will be kissing are these," he tapped Avalon's lips with a smile, "Now, can we please get over this jealousy scene and return to kissing?"

Avalon playfully rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah...but we're going to see Jane Austen, right?"

"What ever you want, love," the Doctor promised as he leaned over to kiss her again. In no time he had Avalon kiss back and resume their moment alone.

"Can you please stop snogging my best friend in front of my wife and I?" came Rory's plead as he and Amy walked in from the downstairs corridor.

The Doctor lightly sighed as he pulled away from Avalon, "Maybe we should go on that date right now..." he offered to Avalon who chuckled.

"Oh no, you're not," Amy shook her head, making the pair look at them, "You two have been blowing us off for your dates for weeks now. We-" she pointed between her and Rory, "-were promised time and space, not 'chuck us out to the nearest planet while you two have dates'."

"We just wanted to be alone," Avalon tried to excuse.

"And do what? Snog all the time? Those are not dates," Rory wagged a finger at them both.

"Don't know they sound like dates to me," Avalon bit her lip and looked up at the Doctor who snickered.

"C'mon guys, I'm happy that you're both doing well in this relationship, but don't you think it's time you co-live with us?" Rory asked and gestured to himself and Amy, "And you know, move away from stage 1?"

"Stage one? What's stage one?" the Doctor made a face and looked at Avalon.

"It's this silly human idea about relationships," the ginger sighed and draped her arms around his neck, "See, stage one is the one where we can't keep our hands off each other. We kiss and kiss, and you know...sometimes...go beyond that."

Rory cleared his throat and gave them sharp looks, "It doesn't _always_ go beyond that."

Amy chuckled at his over-protection and stepped in to continue the explanation, "And stage two is the part where you finally settle down and start co-existing with other people. So, for example, you two could stop this stage one thing and try to coexist with us."

"Is there a stage three?" the Doctor curiously asked.

"That's marriage and you are _not_ getting there yet," Rory answered mightily fast and with a pointed finger at the Time Lord, "Stage 2, stage 2 is perfectly fine."

"Guys, thanks for your input but we're okay," Avalon cut in and leaned on the Doctor for a reciprocated hug.

"We're not trying to push your or anything," Amy clarified their intentions, "It's just...there's a lot more to relationships than kisses."

"Believe us, we know," the Doctor wrapped his arm around Avalon's waist.

Of course he loved the kissing and all but he and Avalon were both on the same page when it came to the point of their relationship. It wasn't fooling around, they _loved_ each other. He had no doubt in his mind that he would give anything to make her happy. Avalon felt the same. It just seemed like Amy and Rory had to be clued in.

"I've got a compromise," the Doctor spoke up, "How about we go to one place altogether and then afterwards, we go have our date?" He ended up looking at Avalon for the answer.

"That sounds good," she nodded, "Anywhere in mind?"

"Has to be amazing," Amy pointed.

"And fun," Rory added.

"Apalapucia!" The Doctor happily declared when the TARDIS stopped. He was really excited to show the Ponds, including his Pond, the gorgeous planet. It would be a leisure trip for them and hopefully a little fun date with Avalon too.

"Say that again?" Amy tilted her head, confused like the others.

"Apalapucia."

"Apalapu...?" Avalon tried to repeat the word but found it was harder than it seemed. "Are you just making up words now? Because we've talked about this."

"Cia," the Doctor tapped her nose, amused at her effort. "Apalapucia!"

"Apalapucia," Rory tried last and got it on the first try. He grinned proudly.

"Apalapucia. What a beautiful word," Amy considered it with a small shrug.

"Beautiful word, beautiful world," the Doctor assured, "Apalapucia, voted number two planet in the top ten greatest destinations for the discerning intergalactic traveller."

Avalon made a face at that, "So then how come we're not going to number one?"

"It's hideous," the Doctor declared, "Everyone goes to number one. Planet of the coffee shops. Apalapucia! I give you sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades!" he grabbed her hand and led her and the Ponds towards the doors, "I give you..." he threw open the doors to show them an empty white space with a double-set, grey doors across.

"Doors," Avalon finished with him, her head tilted and arms crossed as she studied the new environment.

"Doors," the Doctor was disappointed his little moment hadn't turned out how he planned, "Yes...I give you doors..."

"Oh yeah, definitely better than number one," Avalon remarked as they stepped out.

"Well on the other side of those doors I give you sunsets, spires, soaring silver colonnades," the Doctor said as he walked over to the doors with her and Rory.

"Have you seen my phone?" Amy finished putting on her jacket and remained at the doorway of the TARDIS.

The Doctor stopped and turned around, even more so disappointed no one was really seeing the grandness of the planet. "Your phone _phone_?"

"Yeah."

"Your mobile telephone? I bring you to a paradise planet, two billion light years away, and you want to update Twitter?"

"Sunsets. Spires. Soaring silver colonnades. It's a camera phone," Amy sighed as he failed to realize the reason for her phone. She wanted to capture it all and he didn't see that? Total clueless alien, that's what he was.

"On the counter, by the DVDs," the Doctor gestured.

"Thank you," she waved and headed inside the TARDIS.

"How do we get in?" Rory was in front of the doors that were locked.

"I don't know, push a button," the Doctor shrugged and pointed to the panel beside the doors which had two buttons, one green and another red.

Rory pressed the green button and opened the doors, revealing another white room with a table in the center and a large, magnifying glass on top.

"OK, so, rain check on the soaring silver colonnades," the Doctor gave up.

"No kidding," Avalon chuckled, "Is this like Sherlock Holmes or something?" she walked to the table and looked at the magnifying glass.

"Hey?" they heard Amy from the other side, the doors had closed after they'd walked into the room, "Hey, it's locked."

"Yeah, push the button," Rory called out. They waited a couple seconds but Amy never came inside, "Where is she?" Rory sighed as he headed for the doors and opened them up. He peered out and still saw no Amy, "Where on wherever we are is my wife?"

"What are you doing?" Avalon asked as the Doctor took a seat at the table, beside her.

"Playing Sherlock Holmes," the Doctor shrugged and pressed a button on the magnifying glass. Immediately, they both saw a blurry picture of Amy through the glass.

"Oh..." Avalon blinked, "...Rory, I think we found her..."

"What do you mean you've found her?" Rory returned to the room and stopped beside them to see his wife through the glass, "Whoa! No, but, she's not... she's not here! I can see her, but she's not here."

"Where am I? In fact, where are _you?"_ Amy seemed to be looking around the glass, also confused.

Suddenly, the door at the other end of the room opened up to reveal a white handbot on the other side. Both Avalon and Rory stood straight and looked at the robot that had no face but did have real hands.

"Its hands..." Avalon pointed, already creeped out. That just wasn't right.

"Hands! Hello. Hands. Handbot with hands, Ava," the Doctor seemed less than concerned with their new guest.

"Welcome to the Twostreams Facility. Will you be visiting long?"

"Er, Doctor. Something's happening," Amy tapped the glass and made the Doctor look down to see the image was fading.

"Amy! Stay calm! Stay still!" the Doctor tried to get the image back.

"I don't think she has much of a choice," Avalon remarked to him, "Where is she?"

"Will you be visiting long?" the handbot asked again and reached for the trio.

" Good question, bit sinister," Rory panicked as the handbot started backing only him, "What's the answer to not get us killed?"

"Because that always works?" Avalon called.

"How about some help, then, Ava?"

"I'd love to...but I have no idea how to stop that," Avalon went after the handbot while the Doctor continued working on the glass, "Plus, have you seen those hands?" She stared at the rubbery-looking hands on the robot.

"Will you be visiting long?"

"And where have you been?" Amy's voice drifted over, sounding a bit irritated, "I've been here a week!"

"A week!?" the Doctor was appalled to hear, "A week?! I'm so sorry! Aha! Same room, different times. Two timestreams running parallel but at different speeds. Amy, you're in a faster timestream."

"Doctor, it's going again!" the ginger cried as the image flickered.

"Will you be visiting long?"

Avalon stepped in between Rory and the robot and kicked it back, "We don't know!" she yelled at it, "Now stay back."

"Come on. Gotcha! There. Stabilized, settled, shh!" the Doctor exclaimed once the image started appearing back on the glass.

"Thank you boyfriend for your help," Avalon called and made the Doctor look up to see her and Rory with the handbot.

"I told you I was coming up with a better label!" He said with a frown.

"Well, next time come help us and I'll remember that!"

"Sorry," he quickly stood up and hurried over to them.

"Why has this got hands?" she hoped she would finally get an answer on those hands. The more she looked at them, the creepier they were.

"Organic skin," the Doctor explained, "Ultimate universal interface, grown and grafted, not born. It's actually seeing with its fingers, scanning the room. But why not just give it eyes?"

"Will you be visiting long?"

"I just answered that stupid question," Avalon rolled her eyes.

"As long as it takes," the Doctor answered then returned to the magnifying glass, "Amy, what exactly did you do?"

"I just, I came in, and I pressed the door button."

"Ah... Amy, there are two buttons," Rory called, "Green anchor, red waterfall. Which one did you push?"

"I pushed the red waterfall," Amy quietly responded.

"Great," Rory rolled his eyes and opened the doors to go retrieve his wife.

"All because you wanted to update Twitter," Avalon joked as she joined the Doctor at the table.

"No, I didn't!" Amy frowned.

The doors reopened and in came Rory, looking confused and a bit irritated, "I pressed Red Waterfall, and she wasn't there!"

"So you can't follow her directly. You know, it's never simple!" the Doctor groaned, "Hear that, Handbot? She just pressed the wrong button. We're aliens, we didn't know," he turned for the robot.

"Statement... rejected," the handbot's two blinking lights on its chest stopped at a red light, "Apalapucia is under planet-wide quarantine. This is a kindness facility for those infected with Chen7."

The Doctor quickly covered his mouth and nose with his jacket's collar, "What?" At the action, Avalon and Rory did the same.

"What's Chen7?" Avalon asked, her voice slightly muffled with her cardigan's sleeve.

"The one day plague."

"What, you get it for a day?" Rory raised an eyebrow.

"No, you get it, and you die in a day."

"We should've gone to number one," Avalon mumbled.

"There are 40,000 residents in the Twostreams Facility. Please remain in the sterile areas. Visiting hours are now," the handbot lowered its hands and put them together, transporting away and leaving trio in the room

Slowly, everyone lowered their jackets, the Doctor being the first to heave a heavy sigh, "Sterile area, I'm safe."

Amy smacked the glass from her side and made everyone look back, "What about me!"

"Chen7 only affects two-hearted races like Apalapucians," the Doctor explained and calmed her nerves.

"And Time Lords, apparently," Avalon added.

"Yeah, like me. In that facility, I'm dead in a day," the Doctor didn't want to think about that and instead focused on their friend, "Time moves faster on Amy's side of the glass. Amy, you said you'd been here a week. What did you eat?"

Amy shrugged, "Nothing. I wasn't hungry."

"No, because Red Waterfall time is compressed. That's the point. The Time Glass syncs up the timestreams for visits. You could be here for a day, watch them live out their entire lives."

"And watch them grow old in front of your eyes? That's horrible," Rory made a face and shook his head.

"No, Rory, it's kind. You've got a choice. Sit by their bedside for 24 hours and watch them die, or sit in here for 24 hours and watch them live. Which would you choose?" the Doctor didn't wait for an answer as he picked up the glass.

"Doctor!?" they heard Amy shout in distress, "Doctor, don't leave me!"

"We're here, Amy," the Doctor was holding the glass where they could all see the frantic ginger, "We're right here."

"Where are you?" she looked around, "Am I looking at you?"

"Turn left, just a fraction," he instructed, "Bit more, stop. That's it."

"Eye to eye?"

"Eye to eye to eye."

"Hello," Rory waved once Amy was looking straight at them.

"Amy, I'm taking the Time Glass back to the TARDIS. Like satnav, I'll use it to get a lock, then smash through, using the TARDIS to get you out," the Doctor explained while using the sonic on the glass, "Until then, you're on your own."

"What are you doing?" Avalon asked him.

"Locking onto Amy. Small act of vandalism, no-one'll mind."

"Mm, yes, and how many times has that actually been the truth?" Avalon made the question only a mere second before an alarm went off, "Oh, look at that..."

The Doctor knew there was no time to waste and so explained to Amy what she needed to do, "Amy, I need you to go into the facility just for a bit. Find somewhere safe and leave me a sign. Remember, you're immune to Chen7, but don't let them give you anything. They don't know you're alien. Their kindness will kill you. Now go!"

Amy hurried to the door of her room and pressed the button, looking back at the glass just as they opened for her, "Rory, I love you. Now, save me. Go on."

As soon as Amy was gone, the trio ran back into the TARDIS to go and save her. The Doctor put the time glass into the console, "This is locked onto Amy permanently. Play the signal into the console, the TARDIS'll follow it," he explained to the others while attaching a cable to the glass. Unfortunately, as soon as he did that, smoke spewed from the console. The Doctor ignored it and pulled out a tool chest from underneath, "Now then, I know you're in here. Um... erm.. Haha!" he pulled out black-rimmed glasses and put them on, "How do I look?"

"Ridiculous," Avalon and Rory answered simultaneously.

At that point, the Doctor felt like the remark ' _they are **so** family_' would've been good, if only Avalon knew.

"Glasses are cool," he said instead and put the glasses on Rory, "Oh, yes. Hello, handsome man."

"Oh, hello," Rory gave a small wave.

"Uh, Rory..." Avalon pointed to the large monitor behind them where the Doctor was visible, clearly the glasses being the camera filming it.

"Rorycam!" the Doctor cheered.

"Conceited," Avalon spat, "You think you're so handsome..."

"Funny cos about an hour ago you weren't telling me otherwise," the Doctor sent her a smug smile. Avalon straightened up, clearly no words in mind to respond back which only made the Doctor's smug smile widen with triumph, "So, we're breaking into the Twostreams," he turned for Rory, "Now, I can't go in, the Chen7'll kill me on the spot. You will be my eyes and ears."

"Rory-cam," Rory nodded, "Rescue Amy. Got it."

"We'll be in and out, no problem," Avalon added.

"N-n-n-n-n-no," the Doctor promptly turned to her, "I specifically left your name out. You won't be going either."

She raised an eyebrow, "And why not?"

"Dangerous."

"My name," she pointed at herself with a smile.

"Ah, no your name is Avalon Harm-"

"Don't finish that," Avalon pointed at Rory, "You know I despise that name. Now I'm going and that's that."

"But-" the Doctor went to argue but Rory cut in and pointed for the console. They could figure out what they were going to do after they set into Amy's timestream place.

It was no surprise that the TARDIS would put up some kind of fight as they tried crossing timestreams. But in the end, the box finally allowed them to land in the correct timestream.

Rory stepped out of the TARDIS with the glasses on and the time glass on a belt worn across his body, "Red Waterfall! We made it," he cheered and looked around the gallery room.

Inside the TARDIS, Avalon was trying to get herself out there to help Rory but the Doctor was refusing to let her arm go. No matter how strong she was, she just wasn't stronger than him.

"I can go help," Avalon argued with him, "C'mon!"

"Ava, I would feel much better if you stayed here with me," the Doctor pleaded to her to rethink this, "Stay here, yeah?" he tugged her closer to him and wrapped an arm around her waist.

Avalon heaved a big sigh and looked at him, "Hey, we've spent an awful lot of time together lately. This is serious and my friend's out there, on her own. Let me go help."

"Rory's going to help and we can help from here," the Doctor gestured to the console.

"Okay, look," Avalon decided to try something else, perhaps the one thing that could make him understand, "Last time we went on a trip, all of us, Amy took the bullet for me and saved me from becoming a wooden doll. She's in trouble now and it's my turn to save her. You understand that, right?"

The Doctor of course understood that. Amy had told him about the reason why she'd become a doll in the first place; it would've been Avalon if Amy hadn't intervened and she was not going to let her granddaughter suffer.

"I'll be sure to make up for this later, okay,?" Avalon assured and leaned up, "With lots of kisses here and there," she smirked as she made her promise, even giving him a previous of her kisses to make her point.

"I hate that you have this power over me," the Doctor sighed with resignation. No, actually, he did not hate it. Who would hate to be kissed by _her_? Not him!

Avalon smiled in triumph, trying not to seem as smug as she really was, "Don't know what you're talking about," she kissed him a second time, "Gotta run," and she planted a third kiss which became a bit deeper than the last two, "Woah," Avalon blinked with a partial daze, "Gotta run...ish..." she shook her head and recollected herself, "Rory!" she called as she ran out.

Rory had been busy looking at the different collections the planet had in the gallery room, "Managed to convince him, huh?"

"Uh, yes," Avalon flashed a smile and closed the TARDIS doors.

"Dare I ask how?"

"Um...I don't think you want to know," Avalon fixed part of her hair and walked up to him.

Rory sighed, "This is just too weird sometimes."

Avalon rolled her eyes, "So then, Doctor, how do we find Amy?" She looked at the glasses.

"Rory, switch the Time Glass on and sonic it," came the Doctor's voice, "I'll send a command to the screwdriver. Amy's here somewhere. If I can just get a lock on her. I wonder what happens if we mix the filters?" Rory pulled out the Doctor's sonic and held the time glass in front of him and Avalon. As soon as the sonic finished on the glass, they all saw dozens of people in a blurred image, all milling about.

"And there they are. 40,000 time streams overlapping. Red Waterfall isn't one time stream. It's thousands," the Doctor informed as the two companions stared in awe.

"Are they happy?" Avalon frowned, wondering if being locked in a facility could be better than dying.

"Oh my Ava," the Doctor sighed, "Trust you to think of that. I think they're happy to be alive. Better than the alternative."

Rory lowered the glass in time for he and Avalon to catch a person running towards them, dressed in armor and with a katana aimed at them. They barely had time to process when the person knocked them both down.

"We come in peace!" Rory found no other words coming to mind, "Peace, peace, peace, peace!"

"Yeah Rory, cos that's gonna work!" Avalon rolled her eyes and sat up, flicking the katana at his throat, "Nice sword..." she had to remark.

"Ava!" Rory scolded. Leave it to her to praise a weapon being used against them. River Song was definitely her mother.

"I waited," the person finally spoke.

"Sorry, what?" Avalon looked up, half irritated with the scold.

"I waited for you," the person repeated and pulled the katana away. "I waited!" she pulled off her helmet to show herself. It left both Rory and Avalon quite stunned.

"Oh my..." Avalon's eyes widened at the sight of a much older Amy.

Rory's mouth had fallen open and while he tried to put his thoughts into a coherent sentence, all that came out were stammers. "A-Amy..wh-what's..."

"Doctor, what the hell is going on?" Avalon found it easier to ask the question.

Unfortunately, all that came out of the Time Lord was, 'Er..." He had no idea how he could've messed this up.

"Amy," Rory stood to his feet and helped Avalon, both still staring at the older ginger.

"I think the time stream lock might be a bit wobbly," the Doctor finally said something coherent.

"You _think_?" Avalon snapped.

Amy drew her sword to strike and scared the two. "No, please!" Rory pulled Avalon behind him, "Please!"

"Duck," Amy ordered and immediately the two did, allowing her to sink her sword through a handbot's head behind them. She put away her sword and moved over to the handbot, bending down beside it and pulling out a small, black box, "Handbots carry a black box in case they go offline. I've changed the cause of termination from hostile to accidental. Easy to re-program. Using my sonic probe."

"Amy," Rory called again, his voice quiet.

"Rory," Amy didn't spare even a glance as she worked.

"Amy!"

"Rory!"

"Oh for goodness sake, why are you doing that?" Avalon pointed to the box Amy held.

"I've survived this long by making the Handbots think I don't exist. Don't touch the hands. Anaesthetic transfer - if they touch you, you go to sleep."

"But you're still here?" Rory asked.

Amy stood up, staring at them both, "You didn't save me," she bluntly said and strode off.

"But this is us doing the saving," Avalon called as she and Rory hurried after her, "The Doctor just got the timing a bit out!"

"I've been on my own here a long, long time. I've had decades to think nice thoughts about him. Got a bit harder to stay charitable once I entered decade four."

"40 years alone?" Rory asked in horror.

"36 years," Amy made a face, "Thanks..."

Avalon elbowed Rory and gave him a look, making him realize his error, "No. Right, I mean... you look great. Really. Really."

"Eyes front, soldier."

"Still can't win then, eh?" Avalon tried to humor them but it didn't work.

"In fact, I think I can now definitely say I hate him. I hate The Doctor," Amy declared with certainty, "I hate him more than I've ever hated anyone in my life." She leaned closer to Rory, but not for him. She was looking directly into his glasses. "You can hear every word of this through those ridiculous glasses, can't you, Raggedy Man? You told me to wait. And I did. A lifetime."

"Amy..." the Doctor began but he didn't get to finish. Lately, he seemed to be getting everything wrong with the Ponds. He tried his best to keep them out of harm's way and yet something always happened to them. Last time, all three of them had been captured inside a fake dollhouse with killer dolls. Before that, they'd been chased around by the Scream. It was beginning to take a toll on him.

"You've got nothing to say to me!"

"Behind you!"

Amy turned to see two handbots closing in on them. She tossed her staff to Rory, ducked and put the handbots hands together, deactivating them. "Feedback. Knocks them out. Learned that trick on my first day," and once again, she made to leave.

They went out to an outer corridor and tried catching up with Amy who didn't even look back at them, "OK, so we just take the TARDIS back to the right time stream, yeah? We can stop any of this happening," Rory tried to reason, Avalon giving a small nod though she wasn't very sure about anything now.

"We locked on to a time stream, Rory. This is it," the Doctor regretted informing him.

"But this is wrong," Avalon frowned at the situation.

"Incredibly wrong," Rory added.

"I got old, Rory, what did you think was going to happen?" Amy rolled her eyes, assuming the worst from them.

"Hey!" Rory was not about to have that and so grabbed Amy's arm and forced her to stop and look back, "I don't care that you got old! I care that we didn't grow old together. Amy, come on, please."

"Don't touch me. Don't do that," she gave the order but didn't sound so sure of it as she left.

"This isn't you," Avalon made a face and went after her, "This isn't our Amy!"

"36 years, three months, four days of solitary confinement, Avalon," Amy stopped in front of some doors and turned to them, "This facility was built to give people the chance to live. I walked in here and I died. Do you have anything to say? Anything, Doctor?"

"Where did you get a sonic screwdriver?" the Doctor decided to question, only irritating her more.

"I made it. And it's a sonic probe!"

"You made a sonic screwdriver?" Rory blinked.

"Probe!"

"Give it up, Amy, you're not winning that one," Avalon had to advise as they entered the temporal engines room.

They followed Amy through a curtain she clearly made and found a small, isolated room where a Handbot stood at the corner. Rory stopped and forced Avalon as well when he saw the robot, "Oh!"

The handbot turned to them and allowed them to see a makeshift smiley face drawn where its face should be. Amy went across the small room, "Don't worry about him. Sit down, Rory."

Avalon giggled as both Rory and the handbot sat down, "You named the handbot after Rory?" she asked.

"Needed a bit of company."

"So, he's like your..."

"Pet."

"Somehow that's not making it better."

Amy pulled out a tube of lipstick and opened it up, meanwhile the other two studied the handbot, "Is it safe?" Rory asked.

"Yep. I disarmed it."

"How?" Avalon wondered just as they both saw the hands of the handbot chopped off.

"Oh, you...disarmed it," Rory slowly said, feeling a bit off about that.

Amy changed her mind on the lipstick and put it away, "Oh, don't get sentimental, it's just a robot. You'd have done the same."

"I don't know that I would have," the Doctor spoke up again, making Amy spin around and look at the glasses.

"And there he is - the voice of God. Survive. Cos no-one's going to come for you. Number one lesson. You taught me that."

"Is that really all I taught you?"

"Don't you lecture me, blue-box man flying through time and space on whimsy. All I've got - all I've had for 36 years - is cold, hard reality. So, no, I don't have a sonic screwdriver because I'm not off on a romp. I call it what it is - a probe. And I call my life what it is... Hell."

"Amy Pond, I am going to put this right," the Doctor assured, "You said you learned from an Interface. Can I speak with it?"

"Doesn't work in here," Amy informed then checked her watch, "2:23, the garden'll be clear now," she looked at Avalon and Rory, "Stay or go?"

"We're coming with you," Rory stood up and looked at Avalon for her opinion.

"Definitely," the ginger agreed with a nod.

"Then try not to get killed. Or do. Whatever," Amy tried to seem casual as she left, "When I first came here, I had to trick the Interface into giving me the information, but I've reprogrammed it now. It'll tell me anything except how to escape."

"You hacked it?" Rory raised an eyebrow, "That's genius!"

"Sorry to interrupt that beautiful moment," the Doctor cleared his throat, "But temporal engines have a regulator valve, which has to be kept from the main reactor or there's feedback. Interface, where's the regulator?"

"The regulator valve is held within."

"Ah! Oh, very, very "ah!" Interface, I need to run through some technical specifications. Rory, give me to Amy a minute."

"Here you go," Rory pulled off the glasses and moved to put them on Amy but the ginger refused.

"Amy just do it," Avalon sharply looked at her.

With a huff, Amy took the glasses and put them on, "They look ridiculous," she frowned.

"That's what we told him," Rory sighed, "Still, anything beats a fez, eh?" Everyone laughed but once Amy abruptly stopped, so did Avalon and Rory, "What is it?" he asked.

"I think that's the first time I've laughed in 36 years," Amy quietly acknowledged.

Avalon sadly looked between her friends, knowing they must have been thinking about the time they had lost. She sighed and touched Rory, ending their moment, "We should leave them...you know, to let them work?"

"Yeah, yeah," Rory nodded and walked out with her.

They wandered through the garden Amy had led them in through and took a look around, both wondering if this was where Amy had spent some time in...on her own.

"You don't...you don't blame the Doctor for this, do you?" Avalon felt the need to ask Rory as they walked.

Rory felt the concern in Avalon's tone and didn't want her to worry, "No...no," he sighed and put an arm around her shoulders, "He is never on time."

"Hm, 14 years," Avalon smiled lightly.

"Mhm," Rory nodded and they both chuckled.

"I just...don't want to have problems between the people I really care about," Avalon sighed. "And right now, Amy is really mad at the Doctor. I don't know who to defend first."

"Avalon…" Rory suddenly stiffened when he spotted a handbot coming towards them.

"Do not be alarmed, this is a kindness," the handbot said just like the others had.

Rory pulled Avalon behind him and backtracked together.

"Do not be alarmed, this is a kindness," the handbot said just as it touched Rory's face with its hand.

"Rory!" Avalon cried as he fell to the ground. "Oh great!" She looked up to see the handbot that would surely be going after her now.

Amy arrived in time to stop the handbot. She cut its head off with her sword and looked between the two, "Rory?" she knelt beside him.

"Glasses," Rory pointed.

Amy stood up and turned away, "You stupid..."

"You saved us," Avalon smiled at her.

"Don't get used to it," Amy muttered.

Rory stood up and studied Amy for a moment, specifically her eyes, "Have you been crying? A little bit?"

"Shut up, Rory," Amy tried to order but her voice was far too weak for that.

"You have, haven't you?"

"Woman with a sword. Don't push it."

"OK, so here's the plan," the Doctor spoke up, "Time is always a bit wibbly-wobbly, but in two streams it's extra wobbly," in the meantime he spoke, Amy handed the glasses back to Rory, "I've worked out how to hijack the temporal engines and then fold two points of Amy's timeline together. We're bringing her out of the then and into the now! Amy, I just need to borrow your brain a minute, it won't hurt, probably - almost probably...and then, Amy Pond, I'm going to save you."

Amy stared into the glasses, her eyes narrowing, confusing Rory and Avalon. One would think she'd be ecstatic that they'd found a way to truly save her. "No," she took out her probe, "Time's up, Handbots coming!" And she hurried out, leaving Avalon and Rory to follow.

~ 0 ~

Amy was striding back towards her secret hiding place in the engine rooms, doing her best to ignore the pleas of everyone who wanted to 'help' her.

"Amy, you've got to help us help you. I need you to think back 36 years ago. Amy? Amy!?" the Doctor was the primary insistent one to talk to her.

Without a word, Amy went inside the engine rooms and left Avalon and Rory outside. Avalon noticed several smudges on the doors and walked up to them, "Funny...if I didn't know any better I would say this is...lipstick," she glanced back at Rory questioningly.

Rory moved over and lifted the time glass to the doors, allowing them to see a message in red lipstick Amy had left for them. Rory sighed, "You told her to leave us a sign. And she did. And she waited. Oh, Amy."

Avalon opened the doors and went inside, marching straight to Amy, "Okay, why won't you help yourself? You wanted us to save you but look at you?"

Amy shook her head, still refusing, "He wants to rescue Past Me from 36 years back, which means I'll cease to exist. Everything I've seen and done dissolves, time is rewritten."

"But that's...that's good, isn't it?" Even Rory was confused about her attitude. Being rescued meant that she wouldn't have to go through the solidarity she'd been forced into.

"I will _die_ ," Amy enunciated slowly for them, "Another Amy will take my place, an Amy who never got trapped at Twostreams, who grew old with you, and she, in 36 years, won't be me."

"But you'll die in here," Avalon scratched her head. "Isn't that...isn't that better?"

"Not if you take me with you. You came to rescue me, so rescue me."

"Leave her and take you?"

"We could take this Amy with us, easy, but if we do, our Amy has to wait 36 years to be rescued," the Doctor warned in case they actually decided to go with that.

"So I have to choose - which wife do I want?" Rory took a small breath, already knowing that couldn't and wouldn't end well.

"She is _me_ ," Amy pointed to herself, "We're both me."

"You being here is wrong. For a single day, an hour, let alone a lifetime. I swore to protect you...I promised."

Amy didn't say a word and instead went inside her small room, leaving the two to think about it.

"Rory..." the Doctor began.

"This is your fault!" the human spat.

"Rory!" Avalon was disappointed he went back on his word, "You promised..."

"I'm sorry Ava but it is," Rory huffed and spoke to the Doctor, "You should look in a history book once in a while, see if there's an outbreak of plague or not."

"That is not how I travel," the Doctor snapped.

"Then I do not want to travel with you!" Rory pulled off the glasses and threw them to the ground.

Avalon was torn between the two sides but even more so angry with Rory. "You said you wouldn't blame him! How…" She shook her head. "If you haven't noticed, it's a pretty big universe with millions of different problems. It is _impossible_ to know what the current state of a planet is all the time."

"36 years, Avalon, 36!" Rory pointed to the closed curtains. "She spent 36 years on her own!"

"And you think I'm not as upset as you are? I love Amy! But this wasn't anyone's fault! It's like when you blamed yourself for accidentally shooting Amy after the Pandorica opened."

"That's different," Rory sighed, really not in the mood to argue with her as well. He was too confused and angry, a horrible combination that he was aware of.

"Yeah, cos it was _you_. You didn't mean to do it, you didn't know who you were, it was impossible. What's happened here was also impossible."

"Ava, Rory," the Doctor called again, sounding like he was giving a test, "Is the time glass still on?" he asked them, "If the link's still active, I think I can hear Amy. Our Amy."

Rory slowly lifted the time glass in front of the small room of Amy and saw none other than the young Amy through the glass, sobbing quietly to herself, "Oh, Amy," Rory entered the room still holding the time glass. He went straight to the present Amy and knelt down to where she sat, "Look me in the face and say you won't help her."

Amy did as told and looked him in the eye, "I will not help her."

"Oh yeah?" Avalon couldn't believe that was her friend and was not going to stand for it, "Alright, then," she gently pushed the time glass up in front of Rory's face where the young Amy was sobbing to herself, "Look us in the face and say that again," she challenged Amy.

"Rory? Rory is that you?" the young Amy turned from the wall, "Rory, where are you?"

Rory used the sonic on the time glass and allowed the young Amy to see them through the glass, "Same place as you - and a bit ahead."

The present Amy peered into the glass, "I remember this," she mumbled.

"But who's she?" the past Amy studied herself, "There's no-one else here, but... me."

Rory handed the glass to the present Amy and took Avalon out with him, hoping the two Amy's could get on the same page to allow for some type of plan.

"You realize what's gonna happen in there, right?" Avalon quietly asked him.

"What?" Rory looked at her with concern.

"Two Amy's, in one place, well sort of...there is going to be some shouts and colorful words."

Rory shared a smile with her, "She's not you."

"Hey, River's her daughter and she's got some colorful vocabulary, she had to have gotten it from somewhere," Avalon pointed out, "And let's face it, you don't have that."

"Shush, Ava," Rory mockingly-scolded her.

"Ha, in other words, I win the argument," Avalon said with pride, making him (and managing) chuckle.

Suddenly, Amy stepped out of the room, "I'm going to pull time apart for you," she looked at Rory. Avalon stepped away as the two couples hugged and kissed, "OK, Doctor, Twostreams is back on air. Right, OK, so this is big news, this is temporal earthquake time. I am now officially changing my own future. Hold on to your spectacles. In my past, I saw my future self refuse to help you. I'm now changing that future and agreeing. Every law of time says that shouldn't be possible."

"Yes, except sometimes knowing your own future is what enables you to change it, especially if you're bloody minded, contradictory and completely unpredictable," the Doctor nearly had a chuckle.

"Oh so you meant Amy," Avalon laughed.

"Well actually my mind drifted to _you_ ," the Doctor said and ended her laugh right there and then.

Avalon crossed her arms and glared at the glasses, "Terrible danger you're getting yourself into, Fairy Tale Man."

"Anyways, back to crossing time streams?" Amy cleared her throat and ended the ensuing argument. She led them out to the outside corridors, "I'm trusting you to watch my back, Rory."

"Always. You and me, always," Rory nodded with assurance.

"Hey, and me," Avalon waved a hand, making them chuckle.

"Cos here's the deal... you take me too in the TARDIS. Me too," Amy turned to them, ending the amusing moment.

"But that means that there'll be two of you, permanently, forever," Rory realized.

"And that way we both get to live."

"But two Amy's together..." Avalon couldn't quite wrap her mind around that. By all logic, that couldn't very well work.

"Can that work?" Rory asked the Doctor.

"I don't know, it's your marriage."

"Doctor!"

"Perhaps, maybe, if I shunted the reality compensators on the TARDIS, re-calibrated the doomsday bumpers and jettisoned the karaoke bar, yes, maybe, yes. It could do it. The TARDIS could sustain the paradox."

Avalon remained quiet at that, he was lying. He had to be. She may not be some Time Lord or that big of a genius but she wasn't stupid either. Paradoxes could not be sustained unless you had a paradox machine, and she wasn't aware the Doctor had one.

"Right. Amy..." Rory put on the glasses and saw the young Amy, "And Amy. The wife and the wife, right."

"That won't get confusing," Avalon remarked quietly.

"OK, Amy - Past Amy – stand by the door. Future Amy, you too," the Doctor ordered, "Future Amy, can I borrow your sonic scr... probe?"

Amy sighed, "It's a screwdriver," she handed it over to Rory then went to the doors.

Rory used the sonic on both Amy's then returned it to her.

"Rory, sonic it, double our power. Amy Now, you're our link to Amy Then," the Doctor continued on with the instructions, "We need to get a signal through. That signal will be a thought. Amy Now and Amy Then, share a thought. Something so powerful that it can rip through time. Rory, sonic the plinth front. Inside you'll find three levers and a jumble of wiring. That's the regulator valve. After we've rebooted, you have ten minutes to get back to the TARDIS. Pull out the red and green receptors, re-route blue into red and green into blue. Leave red loose and on no account touch anything yellow. Come on, Rory. It's hardly rocket science. It's just quantum physics."

"Does he ever stop for air?" Rory made a face to Avalon.

"Eventually," Avalon mumbled with a smirk.

"Eugh," Rory pretended to shiver and continued with his work. No grandfather should ever have to hear that.

"Now the lever," the Doctor called, "Throw them in order! Amys, start thinking the most important thought you've ever had. Hold it in your head and do not let it go! Lever one."

Rory pulled the lever and immediately the two Amy's started to think of one common thought.

"She's doing the Macerena," Rory blinked.

"Aww..." Avalon smiled, knowing exactly the importance of that dance.

"Our first kiss," Rory whispered.

"Lever two, Rory," the Doctor ordered, "Lever three."

Rory pulled the levers and made the time glass shattered. Little by little, the young Amy appeared across them.

"Oh, Amy!" Rory exclaimed.

Amy glanced to her older self and blinked, "Oh, my God."

Rory ran over and hugged Amy, both incredibly happy. Avalon watched and smiled with true joy, though she became a bit sad for the older Amy, and soon it was the same story for the young couple.

"Sorry..." Rory quietly said.

"Hello," the older Amy greeted.

"Hello," the young Amy waved.

"I don't know what to..." they both began but stopped when they realized both of them were talking at the same time.

"Weird," Avalon and Rory whispered.

"OK, this is weird. Right, just stop doing that," the two ginger became defensive, and irritated.

"How about Amy One speaks first?" Rory suggested.

Both gingers turned on him, "Which one's Amy One?"

"Oh, wrong move," Avalon made a face.

"I am," both gingers argued, "No, I am! Rory! Rory, just stop doing that!"

"Both of you shut the hell up!" Avalon yelled and succeeded in quieting them down.

"Ah!" Rory hissed as the glasses started sparking.

"Oh. Rory, Rory, take the glasses off. You're getting temporal feedback," the Doctor called to him as Rory threw the glasses to the floor, "Whoa! Calm down, dear! Ava, Rory, Amy, we've created a massive paradox and the TARDIS hates it. She's self-phasing, trying to get out of here. What's nasty Amy done to you? Just calm down, dear. Hang on in there. Ava, Rory, you've got eight minutes left. I'm sorry, you're on your own now."

"We're not on our own," Avalon tried to look at the positive side, "There's Rory and me and...two Amy's," she made a face, "Yeah, maybe this is bad."

"We're not on our own," Avalon looked around, "There's Rory, and...two Amys," she made a face, "Okay yeah, this can go bad real soon."

"Do not be alarmed," handbots appeared.

"Incoming!" Rory exclaimed as several more robots appeared for them.

'With me," the present Amy handed her younger self the staff.

"I don't get one?" Avalon frowned with disappointment.

"Absolutely not!" Both Amys immediately declared, flinching Avalon.

"Okay, freaky how you both do that," she mumbled as Rory took her to their positions.

"Amy, Kate Hayler, year ten hockey," called present Amy.

Young Amy immediately got the idea, "Go for the shins!" she smashed the handbot's shins and flipped the robot over on its back.

"Rory!" Avalon cried as a Handbot appeared in front of her, "We need weapons!" she kicked the handbot back.

"They're cutting off the Departure Gate. We can't get back to the TARDIS," Rory had glanced back the way they'd come in as he tried battling out his own handbot.

"Side door!" present Amy offered, "We'll go behind them!"

~ 0 ~

As they made their way down the staircase, the two Amys had started a conversation that didn't end so well...

"Think you're coming with us, just like that?" younger Amy was demanding an answer, and fast, from her older self.

"Yeah, just like that."

"Rory, talk to her!" young Amy looked at Rory who was ahead of them, with Avalon.

"Now, ladies..." the man began but Avalon cut through, heavily annoyed with the argument.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Avalon shouted, "You sound like snobbish children!"

"Oi!" both Amys frowned at her, 'Don't talk to me that way, I'm your-"

" _Amy_ ," Rory had caught where the sentence was ending and stopped running, giving each of his wives sharp looks.

Avalon noticed the little looks shared between all three, and it surprised her more that the disagreement had vanished and a common agreement had appeared, "What? What is it?"

She received no such answer and was instead pulled away, continuing their route for the TARDIS. Soon again, the disagreements had risen up between the two Amys.

"Where are you going to live?" young Amy was asking her older self.

"Not with you, don't worry. I'll go travelling. Pop back for Christmas, maybe Easter."

"Amy, you always say, cooking Christmas dinner, you wish there were two of you," Rory tried to humor but it seemed not to be working.

They followed the older Amy up to a room with shut doors. She used the sonic on the doors to get it open.

"Why can't we just teleport inside?" Avalon curiously wondered.

"It's not a teleport, it's a time jump."

"They can't shunt within the same timestream," young Amy said.

"Yes," her older self agreed.

"The TARDIS is in the Gallery," Rory reminded as they finally entered the room.

"Gallery closed."

The older Amy ran up to a table in the center and pressed the buttons, "Controls are stuck. They've locked them from outside."

"Well can't you unlock them?" Rory raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, give me a minute and your cutest smile," she winked just as Rory smiled, "That's the one."

"Can you stop flirting with me?" he cleared his throat, "You're old enough to be..."

"I've known you my whole life. How many games of Doctors and Nurses?"

"Eugh," Avalon shivered as she went up to them, "Now I get why you do that with the Doctor and I. Totally, completely, unnecessary."

Suddenly, all the doors of the room opened up to reveal handbots, "Do not be alarmed. This is a kindness."

Older Amy chucked her staff to young Amy while Rory tried using the sonic on the controls, eventually pressing the correct button and opening the doors to the room the TARDIS was in. Older Amy took lead with her sword and staff to use on the handbots they came across with. Everyone else made a run across the room while pushing several more handbots out of their way.

"Go! I've got your back!" Older Amy shouted to them as she took care of more handbots.

Young Amy was touched by a handbot on the face and gave a shout as she fell to the floor. Upon seeing that, Rory ran over to her, with the Mona Lisa portrait, and rammed it on the handbot's head, successfully shutting it down. He then picked up Amy and started running again.

"Is she okay!?" Avalon followed after him as they headed for the TARDIS.

"Hopefully!" Rory kicked the TARDIS doors open and rushed inside. He set her down on the floor just as the Doctor came over to check on her.

"It's just an anaesthetic. She'll be fine," he quickly stood up and ran for the doors, making eye contact with present Amy. She knew what he was going to do and so dropped her weapons and charged across the room for the TARDIS. The Doctor willed himself to shut the doors, "I'm sorry," he breathed as he locked it.

"What are you doing?" Rory stood up angrily.

"I lied to her, Rory," the Doctor confessed, looking at the door where present Amy had arrived and was pounding on it to be let inside, "There can't be two Amys in the TARDIS. The paradox is too massive."

"She'll die!" Rory shouted.

"Technically, she wouldn't," Avalon slowly stood up, quietly rubbing her arm, "I mean, if time is rewritten then technically she'll never have existed."

"But she happened!" Rory couldn't stop shouting, "She's there!" he violently pointed at the door.

"No, she's not real," the Doctor brought himself to say it.

"She is real, let her in!"

"Look, we take this Amy, we leave ours. There can only be one Amy in the TARDIS. Which one do you want?" the Doctor grabbed Rory and put him in front of the doors, his hand over the latch, "It's your choice."

"This isn't fair," Rory spat, "You're turning me into you."

"Your choice, Rory..."

"I, er.." Rory faced the doors, his mind going blank for a second.

The Doctor returned to young Amy and Avalon, checking the unconscious ginger a final time before heading for the console. Avalon tried touching him but he shook her off, not wanting to face her after what he'd done.

"Rory? Please," present Amy put a hand on the window of the door, making Rory do the same, "The look on your face when you carried her. Me. Her. When you carried her away, you used to look at me like that. I'd forgotten how much you loved me. I'd forgotten how much I loved being her. Amy Pond, in the TARDIS. With Rory Williams."

"I'm sorry, I can't do this," Rory declared and moved to turn the latch open.

"If you love me, don't let me in," Present Amy surprised him with the request, "Open that door, I will, I'll come in. I don't want to die. I won't bow out bravely. I'll be kicking and screaming, fighting. To the end."

"Oh, Amy. Amy, I love you," Rory took a long sigh, knowing he would have to listen t her request.

"I love you too. Don't let me in," present Amy pleaded, "Tell Amy, your Amy, I'm giving her the days. The days with you. The days to come. The days I can't have. Take them, please. I'm giving you my days."

Rory let go of the latch and stepped away from the door, "I'm so, so sorry..."

With that, the Doctor de-materialized the TARDIS from the planet. They had moved Amy to one of the chairs by the console and checked to make sure there was nothing wrong with her. She would just be sleeping for a bit more.

"Did you always know it would never work? Saving both Amys?" Rory asked the Doctor, the two sitting on the staircase looking after Amy.

"I promised you I'd save her and there she is. Safe," the Doctor patted the man's shoulder.

"Yeah, there she is," Rory had to agree on it.

As they stood up, Amy began waking up. The Doctor headed for the corridors to give them some time. Avalon was coming out from the corridor with a blanket for Amy.

"Hey," she tried to greet him in an attempt to start a conversation with him since he was seemingly trying to avoid her.

The Doctor mumbled a 'hey' back but moved around her and continued his way to the corridors. She looked down for a moment then walked towards Rory, getting the surprise to see Amy awake...and questioning for her older self.

~ 0 ~

Later in the night, Avalon crawled out of her bed and grabbed a white blanket to drape over her shoulders. She hadn't slept very well, mostly because she didn't really feel tired, but it was more to the day they had. She hoped that perhaps something to drink could do the job. Of course a normal person would go for a tea...Avalon went with a strawberry milkshake. She had a nice pink milkshake in front of her, topped with whip cream but absolutely no cherry on top. Just as she was about to take a sip, the Doctor entered, unaware she was in there.

"Hey," she decided to greet him again and managed to surprise him.

"You're...not supposed to be awake," the Doctor eyed her suspiciously, seeing the blanket still over her yet a brand new milkshake in her hands.

"I wasn't tired," she shrugged, "Insomnia, remember?"

"Right..." the Doctor looked to the side. She would still think it was insomnia and not that tonight was one of those nights she didn't need the rest.

"You want some?" Avalon slid her glass to him, "It's strawberry."

"What? No cherry?" he eyed the glass.

"Eugh, I don't like them," she crinkled her nose at the thought of a cherry on her drink. "It just ruins the milkshake."

He smiled at her, making a mental note for future references. It would go under the same list that involved never giving her anything with fish.

"Fairy Tale Man, are you mad with me?"

"What? Never!"

"Then why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not-"

"Please don't waste time in denying what is so clearly true," Avalon sighed again and looked down, "I know perfectly well when people are avoiding me and you, sir, are doing it."

The Doctor knew she was thinking of the people in Leadworth who tried their best to avoid her at all costs and on no account did he ever want her to think he was one of them. "Okay, so maybe I didn't want to talk...but it wasn't because you did something," He took a seat next to her. "It was because of what I did."

"What _you_ YOU did?" Avalon raised an eyebrow and straightened up, "And what exactly was that? Cos I think I missed it."

"What happened today...I...it's a bit complicated to forget," the Doctor sighed, "Especially when it's my fault."

"No," Avalon reached for his hand, "It's so not your fault. You didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"Well my little accident caused Amy to live 36 years in solitary, nearly made you and Rory die and-"

"What is the point in thinking of what happened and could've happened when it's all over?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, "We're okay now, don't bother yourself with that stuff."

"That 'stuff' is important to me," the Doctor frowned, "One little error and bam, Amy's dead. Or one little slip and oh look, Rory just got squashed. Lena did good in leaving, honestly."

"And me? What, you think I should've left too, then?" Avalon urged him to answer then groaned when he just looked away from her. "This is not happening," she mumbled to herself as she stood up and promptly moved over to sit on his lap, her arms around his neck. "I thought you never wanted me to leave..." she forced him to look at him with a hand under his chin.

"I don't," the Doctor quickly clarified, "But I can't help worrying what could happen to you." His mind kept flashing him bits and pieces of his profile he had from the Teselecta. Each day brought him closer to his supposed death day and because he still had all the Ponds with him, it meant he would be dragging them to that day as well. He _couldn't_ do that to Avalon. If the Silence and Kovarian did manage to kill him then he would at least make sure _she_ was okay. If he was dead, then they would finally let her and the rest of her family live in peace. That was the only bit of peace he could find in all that mess, but right now he still had Avalon and he didn't want to lose her. So what was he supposed to do? He brushed his hand against her cheek. "Ava, I love you. I would never want to leave you." _Want_ being the operative word. He would never want to leave her, but if it ever came down to her safety and their relationship...he would choose her safety in a heartbeat. It was what he promised Rory, after all.

"Doctor, I know that you feel guilty about what happened but...it wasn't your fault. You can't go around blaming yourself for everything bad that happens. That's unfair."

"I can't help it," the Doctor admitted. "You are my responsibility-"

"No, we're not. We choose to travel with you. We choose to explore and whatever consequences there are. It's about time you start realizing that and I'm gonna make sure that you do."

"Yeah, what are you going to do?" The Doctor looked at her with a small, amused, smile.

"Well, for starters," she reached for her milkshake on the table and took a sip. She then offered him some. "It's therapeutic."

The Doctor laughed. "Right." He moved the straw over to his side and drank from it. "It really needs a cherry though."

Avalon crinkled her nose. "Absolutely not! Unless you want to be single again. Go on, take another drink. I'll make more but you have to stay around so I can keep reminding you that nothing was your fault."

The Doctor wouldn't argue against having that type of night with her. He just knew that it wouldn't matter what she said to him because he would always want to keep her and her grandparents safe.

* * *

Author's Note:

Yeeeah I'm not even going to try and hide this but I literally _despise_ this episode so much. I hated how Amy acted in this episode. To me, it's a huge disrespect towards Rory who'd gone through so much more crap before and for a _much_ _longer_ period. That being said, I didn't have the motivation to put a lot of stuff into this chapter. Next one is where things start picking up again aaaaand it probably won't be for good reasons :))

**P.S** As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is " **saiilorstars** "


	26. The God Complex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The travelers are stuck in a hotel hell-bent on showing them their worst fears. The Doctor's greatest fears shown to him is what finally pushes him to do something he should've done a long time ago.

Avalon was sitting on mushy, green grass with her journal and pen. There was a sun, or a fake sun, shining up above in the 'sky'. There was a very visible flower scent that flooded the area with every breeze. Avalon loved the room the TARDIS had made for her, it was very...fairy-tale like. But also, it was the perfect place to attempt to write. It had only recently come up and Avalon couldn't be more thankful for the TARDIS again. She truly made life easier. The new room had been Avalon's new sanctuary to keep on drafting.

Of course, it usually only worked when a certain Time Lord wasn't around...and that was soon to end in...3...2...1...

"Gotcha!" the Doctor cheered as he took Avalon by surprise with a hug from behind.

The ginger flinched and dropped her journal and pen. She turned her head to the side and frowned, "I'm gonna slap you one of these days."

"But not today," the Doctor smirked and pressed a kiss to her lips. Afterwards, he moved over and sat down beside her, "So what are we doing on this fine morning?"

"How would you know it's morning?" Avalon chuckled, "You live in a time machine."

"Clearly because Amy and Rory were going into the kitchen for breakfast, duh," the Doctor playfully rolled his eyes.

"Don't be a smart alec with me, it'll cost you," Avalon warned and closed her journal, "Now I don't feel like being irritated in my own sanctuary."

"I would never," the Doctor mocked an offended face, making her laugh.

"I'm sorry," Avalon chuckled and set her journal down on her side. "I know I lock myself up over this thing," she nodded to the journal, "My family always got so irritated with me for it."

"I'm not upset, I was just missing you," the Doctor put an arm around her shoulders, "You're doing what you love, how can I be mad at that?"

Avalon scoffed, "As _if_ I'm doing the thing I love. I want to be a writer but c'mon," she sighed, "We all know it's not happening, I just kid myself with this journal."

"Oi, I gave you that journal, let's not downplay its importance," the Doctor made a face, "And, not to mention, Emmalina gave you your first one, because she believed in you."

Avalon quietly picked up her journal and stared at its cover, her mind drifting off to the past, "She thought I could become one of the greatest writers in history."

"Well, it's not too late," the Doctor shrugged, "You're only 23, perfect age to begin."

"You've gotten to know me a lot better than anyone else, so you know that I'm not a very good person..."

"Let's not get into that topic," the Doctor sighed, "Because I've already told you that it's all senseless."

"No, it's not..." Avalon said quietly.

The Doctor ignored her comment and gently moved her to sit on his lap, "Okay, while I think you are completely wrong about that, I don't see any reason why you can't become a true writer."

"It's scary," Avalon sighed, "Plus, my reputation isn't all that great on Earth. Colleges literally look at everything and I've been arrested several times and I've actually gone to a juvenile detention. That alone disqualifies me, or discourages the admission. You see? There's no hope. I'm doomed to be an amateur for the rest of my life."

"Now wait a minute," the Doctor had to stop her, "Earth isn't the only place you can get some education. You're not even from Earth! You can go anywhere in the galaxy, Ava. They would look at your talent, your ambition, determination..."

"And do you think I have any of that?"

"Of course I do! All that and more," the Doctor kissed her hair, "Just say the word and we'll go and get you to see one of the professors."

Avalon lightly smiled as she thought of something, "You know, River's a professor, in the future," she raised her head to look at him, "You think she would be willing to help? Give some pointers?"

The Doctor hadn't quite thought of that, but knew right there it wouldn't be a good idea. "Ava, to contact that River right now would be far too dangerous. She'd be from way into the future and would have too much foreknowledge."

"Right," Avalon sheepishly smiled, "Guess I'd be on my own, then."

"Never, you'd have all of us, especially me," the Doctor nodded.

"It would be kind of nice," Avalon said and sighed a few seconds later. "I don't know. It's all so...new, you know? I don't know what I want to do."

"There's no rush, Ava. Take some time to think of all of your options and when you decide on something, you let me know and I'll do my best to help you."

Avalon nodded. It sounded like a good plan. She didn't want to rush into anything, especially something as important as an actual career. "You're incredible, do you know that?" She rested her head against his shoulder and smiled as she felt his arm wrap around her. "You're the best thing that's happened to me in my entire life."

"Wow, feel special now," the Doctor smiled. "Who'd known that the snappiest little girl in that sleepover would grow up and steal my hearts?"

"Mm, I had big goals," Avalon joked, "And don't call me 'snappy'. I wasn't 'snappy'. I was just making sure you weren't going to hurt my sister. But if your feelings are still hurt I'm sure there's something I can do about it now..."

"And what would that be?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow as she shifted her body to face him. She had that sneaky smile he came to love early on.

"A little of this," Avalon pecked his lips. "And a lot of this," she kissed him again but deepened it, making it so that both of them were left without air and quite dazed.

~ 0 ~

The Doctor excitedly popped his head over a staircase railing, looking down at the many spirals of the stairs below. The rest of the travelers did the same but unlike him, they were nowhere near pleased with the sight.

"'Let's go to Ravan-Skala,' he says," Amy began with a huff, "" _The people are 600 feet tall, you have to talk to them in hot air balloons and the Tourist Information Centre is made of one of their hats,_ ' he says."

"And yet, there are no such hats," Avalon finished for her and raised her head to look at the Time Lord, "You have lied and badly."

"This is just awful," Rory went ahead and added.

The Doctor looked at the three with a scowl, "Amy, Beaky—"

"I would think real hard before you nickname me," Avalon pointed a warning finger at him.

"Princess," the Doctor flashed a smile, Avalon playfully rolling her eyes as a response, "Now this could be the most exciting thing I have ever seen!"

"You're kidding," Rory shook his head.

"How can you be excited about a rubbish hotel on a rubbish bit of Earth?" Amy crossed her arms and stared at the Doctor in disbelief.

"I'm not that surprised," Avalon remarked, "He gets excited about the stupidest things."

The Doctor rolled his eyes and ignored their little remarks, "Because, assembled Ponds..."

"And Reynolds," Avalon interjected with an amused smile.

"And Reynolds," the Doctor quietly added it. It was slips like those that could create such problems for him and everyone else and yet his mouth still had the ability to continue making the error. It was just too much fun calling her a Pond. "This is not Earth. This has just been made to look like Earth. The craftsmanship involved... Can you imagine?"

"Then where are we?" Avalon grew tired of the ole mystery. Unfortunately for her, the Doctor didn't seem to agree as he led them through the staircase, returning back to where the TARDIS was parked, "Hello, Doctor?" she called again, making a face as he deeply sniffed a plant.

"I don't know," he finally answered her and turned around, "Something must have yanked us off course. Look at the detail on that cheese plant!" he excitedly pointed at the plant.

"You want me to be excited over a...plant?" Avalon raised an eyebrow and walked up to him, slowly smiling of amusement, "You're _so_ weird," she rested her hands on his chest and chuckled, "Remember when you ate grass?"

"And you told me to never kiss you," the Doctor decided to remind her rather smugly, "Look at us now."

"Shut up," Avalon remembered that moment quite clearly. She'd never have imagined the alien who tasted blue grass and just about anything else he found intriguing would actually steal her heart.

"Um, hello?" Rory called back to them, pulling them out of their moment, "Who would mock up an Earth hotel?"

"Colonists maybe, recreating a bit of home," the Doctor thought as he turned Avalon around and wrapped his arms around her waist, "Like when ex-pats open English pubs in Majorca. No, whoever did this, I am shaking his/her hand/tentacle."

"Seriously, you get excited over the stupidest things," Avalon sighed with resignation.

Rory moved over to a wall full of photographs of various species, soon calling the attention to Amy, "Have you seen these? Look at the labels underneath," he pointed to a photograph of a Sontaran, "Commander Halke, defeat," he then moved onto a human, "Tim Heath, having his photo taken. Lady Silver-Tear... Daleks."

Amy agreed there was something strange in that and decided to look for herself, "Paige Barnes, other people's socks. Tim Nelson, balloons. Novice Prin, sabrewolves. Royston Luke Gold, Plymouth. Lucy Hayward, that brutal gorilla," she glanced over to the Doctor, "Doctor, what does it mean?

"I don't know, let's find out," the Doctor took Avalon's hand and pointed for them to start moving.

They entered the reception room where they could hear a soft tune playing in the background due to some radio player at the reception desk. The Doctor tapped a bell on the desk and immediately three people jumped from around the corner, one of them, a woman, brandishing a chair leg at them.

"Blimey, that was quick," the Doctor jumped back.

"We surrender!" cried the alien of the three strangers.

"No, it's OK, we're not..." Rory grew tensed and came up with, "We're nice!"

"She threatened me with a chair leg," the Doctor suddenly noticed and looked at the others in disbelief.

"Who are you?" the woman with the chair leg demanded.

"We're back in reception," the third of the trio took notice of the new room.

"We surrender!" repeated the alien.

"Never been threatened with a chair leg before!" the Doctor was still stuck on that, "No, I tell a lie."

"Did you just say, ' _It's OK, we're nice?_ '" Amy had suddenly realized that and had to find out the reason for it.

"EVERYONE SHUT THE HELL UP!" came the loud yell of Avalon who successfully managed to quiet everyone down, "Thank you," she breathed in relief and straightened herself up. "God, sometimes…"

"Their pupils are dilated," the woman took notice of the travelers' faces.

"What?" Avalon looked at her with suspicion and confusion.

"They're as surprised as we are," the woman continued, "Besides which, if it's a trick, it'll tell us something."

"Oh, you're good," the Doctor pointed, genuinely impressed, "Oh, she's good. Amy, with regret, you're fired."

Avalon looked at him with a scowl, "Excuse you?"

"I'm kidding," the Doctor waved her off but looked at the woman and mimed holding a phone to his ear, "We'll talk," he whispered.

"EXCUSE YOU?" Avalon raised an eyebrow at him, "There'll be no 'talks'," she frowned, "Not unless you're prepared to die."

The Doctor loved when Avalon got jealous but battling it out in front of strangers wasn't exactly his idea of having fun. He tugged her to him, through struggle as she was clearly upset, and looked at the others, "I take it from the pathological compulsion to surrender, you're from Tivoli," he settled on the alien of the strangers.

"Yes, the most invaded planet in the galaxy. Our anthem is called Glory To Insert Name Here."

Avalon stopped struggling against the Doctor to glance at the alien, "That's... _sad_ ," she informed then continued to fight, mumbling a few curse words here and there.

"You with the face, Howie, you said you were surprised to be back in reception," the Doctor pointed to the young man with them.

"The walls move, everything changes," Howie struggled to say as he looked around.

"You, clever one, what's he talking about?" the Doctor had looked back at the woman in scrubs, "And what's your name?"

"Oh yes, that's working well," Avalon muttered and practically swatted his hands off her, but to no avail.

"The corridors twist and stretch, rooms vanish and pop up somewhere else," the woman explained, "It's like the hotel's alive. And, um, Rita," she was noticing the odd looks she was getting from Avalon and frankly felt a bit nervous.

"Let me go," Avalon ordered the Doctor and finally pushed him off. She rolled her eyes and jumped over the reception desk to the radio station, "New rule, this stays off all night," she glanced back at the others, "It's giving me a headache. Now, then, what were you saying about the hotel?"

"It's huge, with, like, no way out," Howie finished for Rita.

"Have you tried the front door?" Rory had to ask since the 'easiest way out' always seemed the most ignored option during their travels.

"No, in two days it never occurred to us to try the front door," Rita sarcastically replied, "Thank God you're here!"

"Oi, don't be rude to my best friend," Avalon snapped at her as she jumped on the desk again, taking a comfortable seat on it with her legs dangling.

The Doctor had taken out his sonic to scan the door and opened it to find a white brick wall, confirming Howie's statement, "They're not doors, they're walls, walls that look like doors. Door-walls, if you like, or "dwalls", "woors" even, though you'd probably got it when you said, "They're not doors." I mean, the windows are..." he moved over to a pair of curtains and flung them to the sides, only to find more wall behind, "Right, big day if you're a fan of walls."

"It's not just that," Rita quietly said, Howie and Trivol both also getting quiet, "The rooms have... _things_ in them."

"Things? Hello! What kind of things?" the Doctor was once again excited, "Interesting things? I love things, ask anyone."

"Stupid things," Avalon remarked as she inspected her nails, clearly trying to seem disinterested.

"Bad dreams," Rita answered the question with fear evident in her tone.

"Well, that killed the mood," the Doctor's excitement faded.

"There was never a mood here," Avalon looked at him with a scowl, reminding him this hadn't even been their choice of adventure in the first place.

"How did you get here?" the Doctor focused on the problem at hand.

"I don't know, I'd just started my shift," Rita shrugged, "I must have passed out, because suddenly I was here."

"I was blogging, next thing, this," Howie gestured to the room.

"Oh, I was at work, I'm in town planning," the alien went next, "We're lining all the highways with trees, so invading forces can march in the shade."

"Still very sad," Avalon whispered to him.

"Which is nice for them," the alien continued, ignoring the comment.

"Yeah... So what have we got?" the Doctor reviewed the information they'd just gotten, "People snatched from their lives and dropped into an endless, shifting maze that looks like a 1980s hotel with bad dreams in the bedrooms. Well, apart from anything else, that's just rude."

"Says the rudest alien I've ever met," Avalon hopped off the desk with a clean smirk, "Now then, can we please get out of here? This hotel is creeping me out..." the Doctor agreed and reached to take her hand but she put them behind her back and sharply looked at him, "Under probation," she announced and headed off.

The Doctor made a face and looked at Amy and Rory, "Dare I ask what that even means?"

"Em, no," Amy shook her head and went off after Avalon, motioning for the others to do the same.

"See when Ava went out on dates she designated them as 'under probation'...and then she never saw them again," Rory decided to inform the Time Lord and had to hide his teasing smirk. It wasn't often he got to do that and since the Doctor had practically done that to himself, Rory figured why not?

~ 0 ~

As the group was coming up the staircase, the Doctor explained the plan to them all, "We'll pop back to the TARDIS, I'll do a planet-wide diagnostic sweep, then we'll have a sing song..." he trailed off when they'd reached the space in which the TARDIS was supposed to be in.

"And the TARDIS is gone," Avalon sighed, not very surprised as well, "Cos you parked it here, didn't you?"

"What's a TARDIS?" Howie looked at the travelers with confusion.

"Our way out," Rory groaned and held his head in his hands, "And it's gone!"

And suddenly, the music Avalon had shut off in the reception room played soothingly over the speakers.

"Okay, this is bad," the Doctor declared, "At the moment, I don't know how bad, but certainly we're three buses, a long walk and eight quid in a taxi from good. Are there any more of you?" he looked at Rita for the answer.

"Joe, but he's tied up right now," Rita leaned on the rail of the stairs, her eyes drifting to the side.

"Doing what?" the Doctor asked her.

"No, I mean he's... _tied up_ right now," Rita made a face as the group realized her words now.

~ 0 ~

And Rita's words were proven true when the group entered the dining room that contained Joe strapped to a chair at one of the tables, identical laughing dummies surrounding him at the other tables.

"This is beyond creepy," Avalon breathed as she looked from one dummy to another, feeling even worse when the dummies all stopped laughing to turn their heads to them. "Oh yeah, we're definitely in a scary movie."

The Doctor went straight for the tied man, determined to figure out what was going on, "Hello, I'm the Doctor."

The man didn't seem quite there as he made a response, "You're going to die here."

"Well, they certainly didn't mention that in the brochure. Is Joe there?" the Doctor reached for a chair, "Can I have a quick word?"

"Oh, it's still me, Doctor, but I've seen the light. I lived a blasphemous life, but he has forgiven my inconstancy, and soon...he shall feast."

"Well, you've been here two days," the Doctor reminded, "What's he waiting for?"

"We weren't ready. We were still raw."

"But now you're what? Cooked?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, suddenly lost.

"If you like," Joe shrugged then smiled, "Soon you will be, too," he assured, "Be patient. First...find your room."

"My room..." the Doctor followed.

"There's a room here for everyone, Doctor. Even you."

"You said you'd seen the light now."

"Nothing else matters anymore. Only him. It's like these things. I used to hate them! They make me laugh now," Joe had a laugh with the dummies, "Gottle o' geer! Gottle o' geer! You should go. He'll be here soon."

The Doctor stood up with a fake smile and grabbed a hand dolley to put under Joe's chair, "I think you should come with me."

~ 0 ~

The group returned to the reception room where the music was once again playing in the background. The Doctor was looking at the four strangers with curiosity, "Why you four? That's what I don't understand. Aside from all the other things I don't understand," he mused while he shut the music off.

"What does it matter?" Gibbis shook his head, "Sooner or later, someone will come along and rescue us. Or enslave us."

Avalon stared at him in utter awe, "That's the spirit," she remarked sarcastically.

"Okay, look, first we find the TARDIS," the Doctor said then wagged a finger at all of them, "If you feel drawn to a particular room, do not go in, and make sure someone else can see you at all times."

"Joe said 'he' will feast. Is there something here with us?" Rita wondered nervously while looking at Joe who was still nowhere with them in mind-terms.

Joe laughed after the question had been asked and so the Doctor glanced at him, "Something to add, Joe?"

"Here comes a candle to light you to bed, here comes a chopper to chop off your head," the man started saying, "Chop, chop, chop, chop."

"Can we do something about him?" Howie put a hand on his head as he tried ignoring Joe's words.

'I'm all over it," Avalon raised a hand as she moved to the desk, hopping on it and reaching underneath to pull out black dutch tape, "Put it on," she chucked it to Howie then looked at Joe, "He's saying stupid stuff I'd rather not hear."

And so, after Joe was taped over the mouth, they all headed for the hallways in an attempt to find the TARDIS.

"Personally, I think you've got the right idea," Gibbis said to Joe as he pushed the man's chair, "Times like this, I think of my old school motto, "Resistance Is Exhausting."

"I've worked out where we are," Howie announced to Rory.

"Hmm?" Rory looked at him.

"Norway."

"Norway?"

"You see, the US government has entire cities hidden in the Norwegian mountains. Earth is on a collision course with this other planet, and this is where they're going to send all the rich people when it kicks off."

"Amazing," Rory blinked.

"It's all there on the internet."

"No, it's amazing you've come up with a theory even more insane than what's actually happening."

The group was stopped when an older man came out of a room in front of them, "Have you forgotten your PE kit again?" the teacher looked at the Doctor, "Right, that's it, you're doing it in your pants!"

The Doctor shook off the odd moment and turned to see Howie nearing a door, "Hey! Don't!" he ran, even the group shifting to try and stop Howie.

The door to the room was opened and allowed the others the sight of young women looking like they were at a party. They all looked over and started laughing when they saw Howie, "Oh, look, girls, it's H-H-H-Howie!"

"What's "loser" in K-K-K-Klingon?" one of the girls asked then laughed again.

Howie backed away from the door, "Shut the d-d...the-the door!" the Doctor did as told, "This is just some m-m-messed-up CIA stuff, I-I-I'm telling you."

"You're right," the Doctor agreed with him in an attempt to calm him, "Keep telling yourself that. It's a CIA thing, nothing more..." he looked at the others and nodded for them to keep moving.

They reached a hallway that was in rather odd conditions. The Doctor looked at one of the walls with light sconces and plaster scraped off. Avalon found a paper on the floor and bent down to get it.

"Guys?" Rory had taken a double look at a fire exit that stood big and proud several feet away from him.

However, the growl of the beast grabbed everyone's attention and made everyone save Rory gather around.

"OK, whatever that is, it's not real, yeah?" Avalon questioned the Doctor, though she wasn't very convinced herself.

"No, no, I'm sure it isn't," the Doctor took her hand yet still backed away with her, "But just in case, let's run away and hide anyway. In here," he reached for a room and flung the door open, motioning for the others to get in while Rita took herself and Joe into another room.

"You liar," Avalon snapped at the Doctor.

"What? I can't try and make my Ava feel better?" he raised an eyebrow at her.

She rolled her eyes, "Oh shut up," she looked around him to where Rory was, "Oi, Rory! C'mon!" Rory was trying to find the fire exit that had mysteriously disappeared on him, "Rory!"

"Ava, please, get inside," the Doctor tried pushing her into the room.

"No, not without Rory," Avalon struggled against him, "Please?"

The Doctor groaned and turned for Rory, "COME ON!" he shouted for the human frantically. When Rory finally started coming towards them, the Doctor got Avalon inside the room and a couple seconds he and Rory followed.

"Aiiee!" the Doctor nearly fell over when he saw two Weeping Angels statues in the room facing them.

"Don't...blink," Amy was staring dead hard at the Angels and practically forcing Howie to do the same since Gibbis was cowering inside a cupboard on the side of the room.

"They're gonna get us," Avalon breathed as the lights flickered and the Angels changed positions.

"Ava, get back," the Doctor grabbed her arm while Rory took Amy's, "Why haven't they gotten us yet?"

"Do you really think we should be questioning that?" Avalon would've given him a look if the Angels were taking up her attention, "Why not 'oh, how can we get out of this?'.

The Doctor moved in front of her as he went towards the statues. Nervously, he tried touching one only to realize they weren't even real Angels, "They're not real," he said to the others.

"What?" Amy frowned, still not taking her eyes off the statues.

"They should have got us by now," the Doctor turned to Amy, "Amy, look at me, focus on me. It's your bad dream, that's all."

"I don't even think they're for us," Rory finally realized as the lights flickered again but the statues remained in place.

Avalon made a face as she looked around, "But if it's not Amy, then who's the room for—" she didn't get to finish her question when Gibbis let out a sharp scream from the cupboard and shut the door, answering her question right there and then.

The Doctor heard the steps of the beast getting closer so he went for the door, confusing the others.

"Doctor, what are you doing?" Amy had to ask, wondering what kind of plan he was forming to save them.

"I'm sorry, I just have to see what it is. I just have to see," the Doctor apologized and peered through the peephole in the door, finding the shadow of the beast on the other side, "Oh, look at you... You are beautiful..." he gasped when the beast suddenly stood on the other side staring right at him, "Oh, dear..." he cautiously stepped back.

"It's on the other side, isn't it?" Avalon assumed with a sigh.

"That...may be a possibility," the Doctor slowly went for the door again.

"And looking back at it again would make things better, how exactly?" Avalon grew nervous as he stared through the peephole. That door was just a door and if the beast wanted to it could take it down, the Doctor being the first one to go down with it.

"I think it's going after Joe," the Doctor announced as the beast started heading off. Once he thought they were safe, he opened the door and peered out into the hall, seeing the body of Joe being dragged around the corner, "Leave him alone!" he called and went after.

"No, Doctor!" Avalon moved to follow when Rory yanked her back, "No, what are you doing? We have to go help!"

Rory shook his head and gripped her arm, "The Doctor can't split himself into three to save himself, you and Joe. Stay here, okay?"

Avalon huffed and looked back in the direction the Doctor had gone off in. Even if she wanted to make a run for it, the hotel would probably shift the hallways and mess with her. She would just get lost and cause havoc.

But she knew why Rory had stopped her in the first place, they all knew.

It seemed like the Doctor's paranoia concerning their safety being completely on him had not gone away. Avalon was the first and foremost one to feel the presence of his senseless guilt. She tried and tried to make him see that everyone was responsible for themselves, as well as the fact that they were all aware of the dangers that came with traveling, but nothing worked. In the end, she, Rory, and Amy just tried to be more careful during their trips in an attempt to help the Doctor a bit.

~ 0 ~

Joe's body had been placed on a small dais in the dining room and was being scanned by the sonic, meanwhile the rest of the group was a bit dispersed through the room trying to get over the happenings.

Amy and Rory sat at a table trying to forget everything but it was harder to do than they thought. They were quietly conversing but when Avalon joined them, they stopped.

"Okay listen up," she plopped down into the empty chair. "Remember how I told you about the Doctor and his guilt? Well, it's about to overflow. We need to be careful for his sake."

"We're doing our best, believe us," Rory sighed.

"I know, just...try a little harder?" Avalon shifted in the chair only to feel something funny in her pocket. She remembered she'd stuck the scrap of paper she'd found earlier into her pocket. "Oh, wait!"

"What?" Rory watched her pull out the paper.

"I found this earlier..." Avalon mumbled as she skimmed the writing. She jumped from her chair and hurried towards the Doctor, "Doctor, look at this. I found it in a corridor, I completely forgot I had it." The Doctor quickly took it out of her hands and just as he was about to read it, she surprised him with a kiss on his cheek. "It is not all on you," she said for his puzzled face. "Please try to remember that."

The Doctor smiled at her for a moment before turning his attention to the paper. As kind as her words were, he couldn't give himself the luxury of getting distracted with her sweet kisses. There was a beast roaming the hallways and she could be its next target. He needed to get them out of there _fast_.

" _My name is Lucy Hayward and I'm the last one left. It took Luke first. It got him on his first day, almost as soon as we arrived. It's funny. You don't know what's going to be in your room until you see it, then you realize it could never have been anything else. I just saw mine. It was a gorilla from a book I'd read as a kid. My God, that thing used to terrify me. The gaps between my worships are getting shorter, like contractions. This is what happened to the others... and how lucky they were. It's all so clear now. I'm so happy. Praise him_."

"Praise him," Howie said not a moment after the Doctor had finished reading out loud.

"What did you just say?" the Doctor looked at him with surprise.

"Nothing," Howie shrugged but it was obvious he was fighting against something, "Praise him!" he nearly shouted then clapped his hand over his mouth.

"This is what happened to Joe!" Gibbis said in alarm as he rushed away from Howie.

"God, it's going to come for me now," Howie panicked while the others spoke over one another, definitely not helping the case.

"You'll lead it right here," Gibbis accused in terror.

"I won't leave you, I promise, you have my word, "the Doctor assured Howie but the young man wasn't so sure.

"I don't want to get eaten!"

"Howie, calm down!" Amy tried her hand at it as well.

"He's going to lead it right here!" Gibbis kept saying in the background.

The Doctor had enough and so activated the sonic above his head creating a high pitched noise that made everyone stop, "Thank you!"

"Don't you see? He'll lead it right here!" Gibbis was the first one to speak again.

"What do you suggest?" Rita turned to him.

"Look, whatever it is out there, it's obviously chosen Howard as its next course. Now...tragic though that is, this is no time for sentiment. I'm saying, if it were to... find him," Gibbis 'delicately' said. "It may be satisfied and let the rest of us go." Everyone looked at him in horror. "All I want to do is go home and be conquered and oppressed, is that too much to ask?!"

"You're no longer allowed to speak," Avalon declared not a minute later.

"We stay together," the Doctor announced and walked up to Gibbis, "Your civilization is one of the oldest in the galaxy. Now I see why. Your cowardice isn't quaint, it's sly, aggressive. It's how that gene of gutlessness has survived while so many others have perished. Well, not today. No-one else dies today. Right?"

"Yes..." Gibbis mouthed.

"Brilliant," and the Doctor turned back and went for Howie, "Howie, any second, it's going to possess you again," he informed as he sat the man down at a table, "When it does, I'm going to ask you some questions. Please try to answer them."

"I hope my mum's all right, she's going to be w-worried..." Howie mumbled, slowly slipping into a change that was clear through his face.

The Doctor sat across him and put on an enthusiastic expression, "Howie, you're next, we're all dead jealous, so tell us...How do we get a piece of the action? Why isn't he possessing all of us?"

"You guys have got all these distractions," Howie tapped his head while smiling in a languid way, "All these obstacles. It'd be so much easier if you just let it go, you know, clear the path."

"You _want_ it to find you?" Avalon realized with horror, "Why? Don't you understand what it's going to do to you?"

But Howie seemed even more excited at the thought of it, "Are you kidding? He's going to kill us all! How cool is that?!"

The Doctor quietly stood and led the others away from the table, "It's as I thought, it feeds on fear. Everything, the rooms, Lucy's note, even the pictures in reception, has been put here to frighten us. So we have to resist it. Do whatever you have to, cross your fingers, say a prayer, think of a basket of kittens, but do not give in to the fear."

"OK, but what are we actually going to do?" Amy asked him curiously.

"We're going to catch ourselves a monster," the Doctor announced with a genuine smile this time.

~ 0 ~

"Can't believe we're doing this," Avalon mumbled to Rory as they stood on guard of the beast.

They were standing outside the beauty parlor of the hotel, Rory with a mop in his hands. They were waiting to lock the beast inside the room where the Doctor was, something Avalon wasn't too pleased with. Once again, she hadn't been allowed to help him because it was "too dangerous" and "she might get hurt" and all the usual crap that had taken custom to being thrown at her. Apparently, locking a door was the only thing she could do without getting hurt.

"Is it really such a surprise?" Rory countered her remark with a small smirk.

"No, as well as the fact that I'm playing guard again," Avalon rolled her eyes, "The Doctor's getting crazy with this protectiveness," she huffed.

"He's trying to keep you safe, Ava. Appreciate it."

"I do but there's a fine line and I don't want him to actually lose his mind trying to protect me, you and Amy. He's too hard on himself."

Rory could agree on that but what was he supposed to do? The Doctor was the Doctor. He long ago made his choice how to act and think. There was no changing his mind after a near thousand years of living.

"Rory, he's in!" they heard Amy's shout from the other side.

Quickly, Rory blocked the door behind them with the mop. Together, he and Avalon stayed near in case there was something else needed to be done.

"He shouldn't be there on his own," Avalon mumbled as they waited.

"Now who's overprotective?" Rory teased and nudged her side, earning a mock glare.

Avalon groaned. She hated when he made sense.

"I'm here!" Howie's voice filled the hallway, "Bring me death!"

"How did he get out?" Avalon then smacked her head, "Stupid question!" she scolded herself, "Remind me, WHY why did we leave Gibbis with him in the first place?"

"That..." Rory looked to the side, "...is a very good question."

"Mhm," Avalon groaned and went back to the door, "We have to make sure this..."

"No, no, no, no!" she managed to hear the Doctor through the other, "Ava, Rory, watch out!"

The glass of the door shattered and sent Avalon and Rory down to the floor. They missed the beast getting the mop out of the door handles to get out. A couple seconds later came the Doctor with Amy and Rita.

"Ava!" he helped Avalon sit up while Amy helped Rory, "Are you okay?"

Avalon groaned as she put a hand on her head, "Does this mean I can't even be a guard, then?"

The Doctor was slightly amused as he helped her up, "You're meant to be my princess," he pecked her lips once he made sure she was alright, "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some saving to do..." He ran off after the beast to save Howie.

"What happened?" Rory looked back at the parlor where they could see basically everything shattered.

"I think we should be asking why Howie's out in the first place," Avalon shook her head, "I swear that alien is going to hear me."

"Okay, let's just go find the Doctor," Amy turned around and moved to walk. She only made it a couple steps down when she stopped and looked at a room, room 7, and instantly felt the urge to go inside.

"Amy..." Avalon was watching her curiously. Amy didn't listen and turned the knob of the door and peered inside, "Amy!" Avalon rushed down and slammed the door shut then yanked Amy back, "You shouldn't have done that. What did you see?"

"Nothing," Amy slowly got back to normal, "Nothing...I don't know, it was weird."

"C'mon," Rita called from the other side of the hallway.

Avalon sharply looked at Amy and grabbed her arm to get back with the others. They found the Doctor kneeling by Howie's body, instantly knowing the man was dead.

From around the corner, Gibbis showed himself, meekly speaking, "He got free. He overpowered me," the Doctor ignored him as he strode back to the others, "It might leave us alone now. Maybe now we'll be safe. Wait!"

~ 0 ~

The Doctor stood in front of the wall pictures they'd looked at earlier, specifically Howie's. Rory came to join him and immediately the Doctor had to wonder, "Have you found your room yet?"

"No, no," Rory shook his head, "And neither has Ava. I have to wonder, though, is that good or bad?"

"I believe the phrase went 'Avalon Reynolds does not get afraid'," the Doctor smiled, "Maybe she got that from you."

"I used to be afraid," Rory shrugged, "But then...after all the time I spent with you in the TARDIS, what was left to be scared of?"

The Doctor sharply looked at him, "You said that in the past tense."

Rory was silent for a few seconds until a sigh slipped through. "My family. River's out there, in prison, and we have Avalon here but...she's already gotten so hurt. My biggest fear now is what could happen to my family."

The Doctor swallowed hard. That could directly be linked to him. "I'm trying to keep everyone safe…"

"I know," Rory turned to him. "But it's like Avalon said, not everything is on you. Sometimes things happen and no one can prevent them."

The Doctor could only nod but to believe him right now was a difficult task. He instead moved away from the wall to go meet the others. On his way, he met Rita halfway there. "Rita! Brilliant! How are you? Not panicking, are you?" But he didn't wait to hear the answer when he continued, "Good, good. Because I am literally an otter's toenail away from getting us out of here."

"Why?" Rita finally managed a word in.

"Excellent question," the Doctor acknowledged but instead went around her, "Excellent question," he remarked but stopped once he realized he had no idea what she meant, "Why what?"

"Why is it up to you to save us? That's quite a God complex you have there."

The Doctor looked down to where Avalon and Amy were downstairs, "I brought them here," he said quietly, "They'd say it was their choice, but offer a child a suitcase full of sweets and they'll take it. Offer someone all of time and space and they'll take that, too. Which is why you shouldn't. Which is why grown-ups were invented."

"All of time and space, eh?" Rita called as the Time Lord continued his way down.

"Oh, yeah," he glanced back, "And when we get out of this, I'll show you, too."

Rita laughed, "I don't know what you're talking about. But I have a feeling you just did it again."

The Doctor nodded then noticed a security camera up on the corner, " Right down to the smallest detail. Got you, Mr Minotaur..." he dashed down the stairs and made note to head to the cameras' room.

Avalon was hurrying down the stairs with Amy and Rory, all trying to locate a missing Rita, when suddenly Avalon stopped in a hallway. She didn't know why but...something stopped her. She took a few steps forwards, ignoring Amy's and Rory's call back at the staircase to follow them. They'd continued on without her.

Suddenly, all the doors on both sides of her faded so that only one door stood out. Number 51. Her feet moved and before she even registered what she was doing, her hand found the doorknob and pushed the door open.

The room was a bright white with a medical bed and the standard IV pumps: a hospital room. Avalon saw a woman's back as she sat on the bed holding an infant in her arms. There was a nurse waiting for the woman on the side.

"What will you name her, ma'am?" the nurse inquired.

"Don't care," the mother answered rather coldly.

It certainly took the nurse by surprise. "Excuse me?"

Avalon could see the mother's head rising to meet the nurse. "I said I don't care. She's a nuisance. I don't want her here, I don't need her, so if you could just..." The mother held the infant out for the nurse.

"Ma'am, this is really unusual," the nurse was flabbergasted. "Are you sure you don't want to think about naming-"

"I don't care!" the mother snapped. "I don't want her! Take her! Put her up for adoption or something!"

"But I-I don't...ma'am if this is really what you want, we need a name-"

The mother groaned. "You want a name? Fine! Go with, uh, Avalon! There! You got a name, now take her away!"

Avalon watched as the nurse pulled the pink blanket from the infant's face to reveal a soft tuft of orange hair. Her breath hitched. _That was her?_

"TAKE HER!" The mother yelled at the nurse, making the woman jump in her spot. "God! Not even her father wanted her and I am _not_ going to be stuck with her! GO!"

The nurse jumped one more time before rushing out of the room...right past Avalon.

"That can't be me..." She said as if she was trying to convince herself.

At the sound of her voice, the mother looked back and though Avalon met her gaze, she couldn't say that she remembered the woman at all. But she knew the look of hatred when she saw one.

The mother's face contorted with utter loathing. "Don't tell me it's you! God! What the hell do I have to do to get away from you? Haven't you taken the hint already?"

Tears pooled in Avalon's eyes as the woman kept shouting at her to leave the room. "You can't...you can't hate me..."

The mother barked a sardonic laugh. "I do! because you were a nuisance from the start! From the moment that I knew you existed! I knew you that you were going to be a waste of space and I decided that I didn't need that in my life. You could be someone else's burden!"

"But I'm your _daughter_ ," Avalon barely choked the words out. She felt like she couldn't breathe and suddenly she really wished she could have a hug from that woman. _Her mother_.

"You're a waste in the world," the mother snapped. "You were born to cause trouble. I had the right idea to get out before you hurt me. Tell me, have you hurt anyone in your life?"

Avalon blinked once and suddenly she was no longer in a hospital room. There was a breeze and sand and water...and a gunshot. An astronaut had fired at the Doctor until he was dead on the ground.

"NO!" Avalon screamed at the top of her lungs and ran forwards.

' _Have you hurt anyone in your life_ _?'_ The wicked mother repeated over and over. ' _Have you hurt anyone in your life_ _?'_

The astronaut pulled off its helmet just as Avalon came to a stop beside the Doctor's body. It was _her_. It was a straight, emotionless her who turned away and disappeared.

"I didn't mean to, I wouldn't..." Avalon hands went back and forth while she decided whether or not to touch him. "I wouldn't hurt you, I wouldn't hurt you..."

She just couldn't, not him, never him.

~ 0 ~

In the dining room once again, the remaining group sat in a dispersed manner contemplating their next move, all in the meanwhile the Doctor was finishing up a rather big tantrum. To say he was unhappy would be the understatement of the year. Three people were dead and the next one could be anyone and so far he had _nothing_ to save them. This was becoming a running theme for him and his good streak of luck could end at any moment. This time could be the time he loses someone, Amy, Rory, or Avalon. It always happens, at some point something has to happen.

Avalon cleared her throat, pushing aside her own turmoil at the moment to focus on the big picture. She didn't want him to find out about her room. "I may be temperamental but even I know throwing things isn't going to help," she said quietly. The Doctor gave a small nod and took her extended hand, "So why don't we review, instead?" she offered and looked around, "We know the beast preys on people's fear and possesses them."

"But Rita wasn't afraid, she was brave and calm," the Doctor said in pure frustration, "Maybe it's something to do with the people, some connection between the four of you that'll tell me how to fight it."

"Yes. You keep saying that, but you never do. And while we wait, people keep dying," Gibbis remarked in irritation, "And we'll be next!"

"Look, he'll work it out, he always does," Amy spoke up, "Just let him riff and move anything expensive out of his way."

"Oh, nice, Amy, support the tantrums," Avalon threw her a mock-scolding face.

"We support yours," Amy countered with a small smirk.

"Hey!"

While the two gingers went back and forth, something had sparked inside the Doctor's head, something of Amy's, "Oh, no. Oh, no, no..." he started repeating.

Avalon looked at him, worried, "What? What is it?"

"It's not fear. It's faith. Not just religious faith, faith in something," he got to thinking and even pacing, "Howard believed in conspiracies, external forces controlling the world. Joe had dice cufflinks and a chain with a horseshoe. He was a gambler. Gamblers believe in luck, an intangible force that helps them win or lose. Gibbis rejected personal autonomy and is waiting for the next batch of invaders to tell him what to do. They all believe there's something guiding them, about to save them. That's what it replaces. Every time someone was confronted with their most primal fear, they fell back on their most fundamental faith," he sat on a barstool and rubbed his face as he realized, "And all this time, I've been telling you to dig deep. Find the thing that keeps you brave. I made you expose your faith. Show them what they needed."

"But why us? Why are we here?" Rory frowned in confusion.

"It doesn't want you. That's why it kept showing you a way out. You're not religious or superstitious, so there's no faith for you to fall back on."

"Me?" Amy was next to frown, disliking what had just been said, "Why me? Why not her?" she glanced at Avalon.

"It seeks out the strongest faith," the Doctor explained but Avalon interrupted him with the revelation that she had seen her own room as well. It seemed like hiding it wouldn't be happening anymore.

"I saw it," she whispered, eyes downcast. "It was there...number 51."

"Oh Ava," the Doctor immediately came to her and wrapped her up in his arms. She wanted him to hold her as tight as possible. "I'm so, so sorry," he whispered to her. He wouldn't ask what she saw just as he hoped that she would never ask what he saw in his own room.

"Okay but if Avalon saw a room too...how do you know it didn't bring us here because of her?" Amy had to ask just for the sake of clarity. She would much rather have the beast come for her instead of Avalon.

"Because I don't have a strong faith system," Avalon said. "I don't believe in hope very much. I'm like you, Amy, in that I know my Fairy Tale Man will always try to save me but I also know that he's not always able to do everything. That would just be unrealistic." She leaned her head against the Doctor's chest. He tries his best, though."

"I will always try," he whispered to her.

"Okay, so...what's going on with me then?" Amy questioned, swallowing hard now that she was next on the list of the hunted. "

"It's your faith in me," the Doctor sighed and looked at Amy who was staring at him in horror, "That's what brought us here."

"But why do they lose their faith before they die and start worshipping..."it"?" Rory inquired.

"It needs to convert the faith into a form 'it' can consume. Faith is an energy, the specific emotional energy the creature needs to live. Which is why at the end of her note, Lucy said..."

"Praise him," Amy said, and finished.

"Exactly," the Doctor nodded and for a moment no one realized what...

"Did she just...?" Avalon's eyes widened.

"No. Oh, please, no," Rory stood up from his chair and moved to Amy, and already they could hear the beast coming for her.

~ 0 ~

Now the group ran as fast as they could down the hallways, away from the beast who wasn't that far away. Amy suddenly stopped and turned to face the beast.

"Amy?" the Doctor had noticed and looked back.

"What the hell are you doing?" Avalon hissed, "Get over here now!"

"He is beautiful," Amy hadn't heard a word as she gazed upon the beast getting closer.

"Leave her! Just leave her!" Gibbis nearly begged as he backtracked.

The Doctor and Rory hurried over to Amy and dragged her away. They ran into a room that happened to be Amy's. Inside was her younger self sitting on her suitcase as she waited and watched the window, simulating the night she had waited for the Doctor.

"Boy does that bring back memories," Avalon blinked. To think, she had scolded Amy for being so naive for waiting for an alien that they would probably never see again. Now look where they were?

Amy knelt to the floor with her hands on her head, "Doctor, it's happening. It's changing me, it's changing my thoughts."

The Doctor looked around the room in desperation, Avalon and Rory were trying to keep the door shut and Gibbis was cowering once more. He had to do something, and that something would cost him. Slowly, he knelt beside Amy, "I can't save you from this, there's nothing I can do to stop this."

She looked at him in confusion, "What?"

"I stole your childhood and now I've led you by the hand to your death. But the worst thing is, I knew. I knew this would happen. This is what always happens."

"It's in!" Avalon cried as the beast swung open the door of the room.

"Forget your faith in me," the Doctor insisted to Amy, flinching as the beast growled at the doorway, "I took you with me because I was vain, because I wanted to be adored. Look at you. Glorious Pond. The girl who waited for me. I'm not a hero. I really am just a mad man in a box. And it's time we saw each other as we really are," he kissed Amy's forehead and smiled at her, "Amy Williams. It's time to stop waiting," he stood up and watched the beast stumble back into the hall.

As the beast fell to the floor, the lights began flickering, the room changing into a darker one with just a control panel and the TARDIS.

The Doctor moved over to the beast and knelt down by it, "I severed the food supply. Sacrificing their faith in me. I gave you the space to die. Shhh, shhh."

"What is this place?" Avalon looked around in awe.

"The real location we've been in this whole time," the Doctor looked around as well, "A ship, a prison ship."

"And what is it, a minotaur?" Amy looked at the beast, "Or an alien? Or an alien minotaur? That's not a question I thought I'd be asking this morning."

"It's both, actually," the Doctor walked to the control panel and checked the screen for any information, "Yeah. Here we go. Distant cousin of the Nimon. They descend on planets and set themselves up as Gods to be worshipped. Which is fine, until the inhabitants get all secular and advanced enough to build bonkers prisons.

"Correction. Prisons in space," Rory pointed to the porthole he and Gibbis were looking through.

"Where are the guards?" Avalon asked.

"No need for any. It's all automated," the Doctor gestured to the controls, "It drifts through space, snatching people with belief systems and converts their faith into food for the creature."

"It didn't want just me," Amy decided to point out, "So, you must believe in some god or someone, or they'd have shown you the door, too. So, what do Time Lords pray to?"

But of course, the Doctor had acted as if the question had not been asked, "According to the in-flight recorder, the program developed glitches. It got stuck on the same setting, the fears from the people before us weren't tidied away."

Avalon turned to the beast as it growled, "It's still alive...but what's it saying?"

The Doctor listened in as he moved closer to the beat again, "An ancient creature, drenched in the blood of the innocent, drifting in space through an endless, shifting maze. For such a creature, death would be a gift," he knelt down and put a hand on the beast, "Then accept it. And sleep well," he stood up and started his way back to the TARDIS with the others when the beast growled again.

" _I wasn't talking about myself._ "

That alone was the making of a big decision.

~ 0 ~

Later that same day, Avalon was rummaging through her room frantically. It wasn't until there was a knock on her door that she finally halted, "Come in!" she gave the shout and continued her search.

The Doctor stepped inside and watched her for a moment, "What...are you doing?"

"I can't find my journal!" she sighed in irritation as she slammed shut a drawer from her vanity desk, "The thing's gone! Disappeared!" she rubbed the side of her head, "You wouldn't have happened to see it, did you?" her tone was full of hope.

"Now that you mention it, yeah, I think so. In the console room," the Doctor held a hand for her, "Want to come and search there?"

"Yes," she nodded and took his hand, "I don't understand, I know I left it in my room. I put it on my desk on the first drawer. How could it get into the console?"

"You probably just forgot," the Doctor shrugged, "No big deal."

Avalon scoffed, "This coming from the man who loses it completely when his screwdriver isn't in his pocket."

"Oi, it's valuable!"

"Well, so is my journal," Avalon concluded. As soon as they entered the console room Avalon started searching frantically again, missing the sad stare the Doctor was giving her all the meanwhile, "I don't see it, are you sure you saw it around here?"

"Uh, yeah, silver book," the Doctor nodded, "Definitely in here..."

Avalon made a face and sighed as she continued looking around. She was getting agitated that her journal wasn't showing up. She couldn't just lose it!

"Ava," the Doctor recognized her angry face and he definitely didn't want for her to be angry now. He slowly moved around the console for the ginger, "Ava?"

"Hm, what?" she muttered while looking.

"Don't be upset, please."

"How can I not be!?" Avalon growled as she stopped the search, " _You_ gave me that journal, you spent time on it for me...and I lose it? No! I have to find it, I'll find it, I promise."

The Doctor smiled and put a hand under her chin, "Don't worry so much."

"How can I not? Not only is it my prized possession but it's also a sentimental gift from you," she said quietly, "I don't want you to think that I'm careless about it."

The Doctor had to laugh at that one, " _You_? Careless about your journal? Ava, I could never think that. If there is one thing you care for it's that journal. Sometimes I think you care more for it than your own life!"

"It's special..." Avalon mumbled with a small pout on her face for being laughed at.

"But none more special than you," the Doctor gave her a peck on the lips, "And, just a note, you are _very_ special."

"Shut up," she blushed lightly.

"Why? I'm saying the truth," the Doctor put an arm around her waist and brought her up against him, "Ava doesn't like hearing praises about herself?" he chuckled as she blushed even deeper.

He was going to miss that.

"You just love messing with me, don't you?" Avalon groaned.

"Don't you do the same to me?"

"Yes...but it's cute when I do it," Avalon innocently shrugged, "And besides, usually when I do it you get one of these," she kissed him, "So everyone wins."

"Everybody wins?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, "Just like that?" Avalon nodded with a clean smile on her face, making him chuckle again, "You're so adorable. I..." he slowly wrapped his other arm around her as well and leaned closer to her.

"You what?" she asked in anticipation.

The Doctor raised a hand to rest on her cheek and gazed at her for a minute, taking note of all her features to remember them perfectly when she was...

"Doctor?" Avalon asked again, "You what?"

But the Doctor didn't answer as instead he chose to kiss her. Satisfied with the alternative, Avalon fell into the kiss. Gently, the Doctor turned her around and leaned her on the console, deepening the kiss. Avalon had never felt a kiss like that and if she hadn't been so into it she would've questioned it.

"Where did that come from?" she finally took a breath after they'd pulled away. "And how can I get that to happen again?"

The Doctor laughed lightly. "You have no idea the power you have over me." He rested his forehead against hers, bringing up a finger to stroke over her cheek. "You're my princess, my Ava. I love you."

Avalon smiled. "I love you too, Fairy Tale Man."

They both heard footsteps coming from the corridors and looked in time to see Amy and Rory walking out.

"Ah, glad you're both here," the Doctor straightened up and took Avalon's hand, "I have a surprise for you two," he looked at the human pair.

"You do?" Amy raised an eyebrow, confused. She thought with the trip earlier all he would want to do was stay inside the TARDIS.

"You'll like it," he assured as he turned for the console and started setting in coordinations, gripping Avalon's hand tighter than ever as he knew what was coming.

~ 0 ~

The group stepped out into a sunny, calm, Earth, street. There were colorful townhouses in a row across them with a park on the other side.

"Don't tell me. This isn't Earth, that isn't a real house," Amy nodded to one of the houses they were approaching, "And inside lives a goblin, who feeds on indecision."

"Good one," Avalon laughed.

"Nope. Real Earth, real house," the Doctor tossed Amy a set of keys, "Real door keys!"

"You're not serious?" Amy looked between him and the keys.

"The car too?" Rory was hypnotized with the bright red car in front of them, "But that's my favorite car! How did you know that was my favorite car?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes as he reminded Rory, "You showed me a picture of it once and said, ' _That's my favorite car'_ ," he tossed Rory the car keys.

"Wait a minute..." Avalon was slowly putting pieces together, at least in regards to Amy and Rory, "...you're doing this be-" but the Doctor placed a finger over her lips.

"We'll talk," he gave a smile, a fake one, "Can I have a word with Amy, first?"

"Okay..." Avalon whispered and nodded. The Doctor gave her a small kiss and turned her for the house that now belonged to her grandparents.

"I'll go with her, there's a tone to celebrate," Rory happily said but stopped beside the Doctor before actually leaving, "Now, Amy's probably going to we can't accept this because it's too extravagant and we'll always feel a crippling sense of obligation," he looked over his shoulder to Amy, "It's a risk I'm willing to take!" he laughed and went after Avalon inside the house.

Amy leaned against the bonnet of the car and patted the spot beside her, "Hey," she called to the Time Lord, "So... You're leaving, aren't you?"

"You haven't seen the last of me," he assured, "Bad Penny is my middle name! Seriously, the looks I get when I fill in a form..."

"Why now?"

"Because you're still breathing," the Doctor quietly said, falling serious.

"Well, I think this is about the washing-up, personally," Amy remarked, making them both laugh a little, sadly. She stood off the car and glanced back at the house, "And Avalon? What happens to her?"

"Amy, you know the Silence is still out there. I can't...I can't keep acting...I can't keep _pretending_ like I don't know what's coming," he swallowed hard.

Amy studied his expression, waiting for him to say more, but she soon understood what he was struggling to say...and it broke her heart. "Oh my God, you know." The Doctor avoided her gaze but his silence was answer enough. "You know about Lake Silencio."

"Knowing what's coming...I cannot and will not have Avalon around for that. I'm her Fairy Tale Man and I would rather die than put her in danger. If the Silence wants me, then let them have me but they will not touch her. Never again."

"I understand, I do, and I'm very grateful you're thinking about her safety but leaving her behind on Earth...don't you think that's just as dangerous?"

"No, I'll have eyes on her. I'll give Jack and Martha a call, I'll be in touch with a slightly older River Song. I'm keeping Avalon safe until...until I figure out how to defeat the Silence. Either Kovarian dies, or I will." The Doctor straightened himself up, standing by his words, and reached inside his jacket to pull out Avalon's silver journal. He had taken it from her room to avoid having to explain to her why she needed to bring it out of the TARDIS right now. He brushed a hand over the cover. 'A.H.R.' was still shining brightly as the day he carved it. Avalon Harmony Reynolds. Beautiful name for a beautiful girl who deserved to live out her days in peace.

He held the journal out to Amy, willing her to take it. "Tell her she can be anything she wants to be. She's the impossible girl, after all. Been doing the impossible ever since she was born."

Amy took the journal from him and nodded. "You don't want to say goodbye to her?"

"If I see her again, I won't be able to leave," he confessed with a heavy sigh. "I love her too much and that's my weakness. If she asks me to stay, I'm going to stay." And he couldn't do that to her. His room had shown him the consequences if he continued to ignore the future. He would die before he had to hold Avalon's dead body in his arms.

"She's going to continue asking so many questions..." Amy said sadly, choosing to understand his motives as the best option for all of them.

"Answer them. Answer everything she wants to know, even about River."

Amy suspected that wouldn't happen anytime soon. Avalon had no interest in learning about her biological mother. "Listen, if you bump into River, whichever version you meet, you tell her to stop by because her daughter's going to need her."

"Will do," the Doctor promised and gave her a quick hug.

"Look after yourself, please," Amy said, watching him backtrack to the TARDIS. He opened the door, glancing back at Amy who already had tears in her eyes, "Bye," she waved.

The Doctor waved back and entered the TARDIS, soon de-materializing. Of course, that happened right about the time Avalon and Rory had stepped out of the brand new house.

Avalon, who'd been carrying glasses in her hands, dropped them to the ground and hurried down the steps as she saw the blue box disappearing, "What happened!? Where's he going!?" She ran up to Amy.

"He's saving us," Amy said quietly and held her journal out.

Avalon swallowed the lump that'd formed in her throat. "No…" If he had left that then it meant he'd left all of them for good. "No, Amy, don't...don't give me that…"

"I'm sorry," Amy tried giving her the journal but Avalon threw it to the side, as hard as her strength allowed.

"He can't just leave me! He can't...the Silence _wants_ him!" Avalon yelled with tears in her eyes. "He can't be on his own!"

"Ava…" Rory wanted to touch her but she backed away from them.

"You don't get it!? Kovarian wants him to be alone! He's going to do something stupid and I'm...I'm stuck here!"

"He's trying to save us all," Amy stepped towards her.

Avalon directed a rather furious glare on her. "How could you let him go like that!? I told you! I...I need to find him!" She clapped a hand over the watch on her wrist. "I love him, he can't just do this!"

"Avalon-"

"NO!" Avalon screamed. "Don't...I have to find him! He doesn't know - he doesn't know that I could still be the astronaut! That's what was in my room! _I'm_ the astronaut and I kill him! The Silence can't have him! I'll drown myself first before I ever put on that astronaut suit!"

"Avalon, please calm down!" Rory wanted to catch her but she was backtracking further from them, completely hysterical.

"Leave me alone!" She turned away and ran off. She had to go find the Doctor before the Silence found him first.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hold on folks, it just gets sadder from here! There's literally only a few chapters left before the story finishes.

**P.S** As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is **"saiilorstars"**


	27. Out of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avalon does what she can to conduct her search for the Doctor before he reaches Lake Silencio. In it, she recruits an old friend of hers and the Doctor's. Even River Song comes into play, although she has other intentions when it comes to handling her daughter. One thing's for sure, they're all on a clock and the clock is about to strike.

Amy came down the stairs on a fine morning, only to sigh when she saw Avalon sitting with her legs up on the couch, a blanket draped over her while she slept all awkwardly and shifty. As Amy moved towards the couch, Rory walked in from the kitchen, having already awoken and was even having a drink of tea.

"Did you do this?" Amy looked at her husband in assumption.

"Yeah," Rory nodded, "I came down last night for water and...she'd fallen asleep this time. I didn't want to risk waking her up by moving her so I just...put a blanket and..." he sighed.

Amy looked down at Avalon and gently pulled the blanket more up, "At least she fell asleep this time," she tried to cautiously move Avalon's head to the couch arm to give her more comfort.

"Yeah, 'at least'," Rory shook his head and turned back for the kitchen.

Amy gave a small sigh as she tried to make her granddaughter as comfortable as possible without disturbing her much needed sleep. But Amy knew that no amount of sleep (however much needed) would make Avalon feel better. It had been a few weeks since the Doctor left them on Earth and it seemed like it would be a long, long time until he decided (if he ever would) to come back.

~ 0 ~

Lena watched her sister make hasty strides in her bedroom, gathering things she would need to take to Amy's and Rory's. Lena couldn't believe the Doctor had left them all back on Earth but after hearing Amy's explanation, she understood why. It made sense. At least her father said it out loud.

Ryland applauded the Doctor for making the sacrifice, something that infuriated Avalon. She swore she wouldn't talk to him in her life if he ever said that again. Nothing justified the Doctor leaving them so he could go die. Lena argued for both sides and since Avalon would never yell at her, she got away with it.

"How long are you going to stay with Amy and Rory now?" Lena crossed the room to help Avalon close the suitcase on the bed.

"Until that idiot Fairy Tale Man comes back. I can't have him sneaking a visit to them and not have me there," Avalon muttered and turned back. "He doesn't want me to find him, _ha_. It's like he didn't even know me. What I want, I get. And I refuse to let him die."

"But Avalon, what are you going to do?" Lena was genuinely afraid of what Avalon would come up with to get the Doctor back, or to at least catch his attention.

"I don't know but I've made some calls, I'm going to get leads," Avalon stopped by her writing desk, practically swiping a hand over it to dump her writing tools into a small duffel bag.

"From where?" Lena asked.

Avalon didn't answer with words. She just smiled and sealed her duffel bag. "You can come with me if you'd like."

"What, to Amy's and Rory's?"

"No. To meet him."

Lena raised an eyebrow at Avalon. She was scared. Avalon on her own was already chaotic but now that the Doctor had thoroughly pissed her off, Avalon was a force to be reckoned with and there was no stopping her. God help him when he came back.

~ 0 ~

"Who are we meeting?" Lena asked Avalon when they entered her favorite coffee shop.

"A friend," Avalon found an empty table by the glass wall. "Sit." She patted the empty chair beside her and decided to order something while they waited.

"Avalon, I know you're upset-"

Avalon made a noise. "Oh, I am not upset. There is no word to describe what I'm feeling right now."

"My big brother just wanted to protect you…"

"I know that. I understand him, I love him for that...but he should not have to die, alright? I know that if he doesn't figure out a way to stop the Silence he's going to sacrifice himself. I won't be the reason he dies, and I most certainly will not let Kovarian win like that."

"I'm sorry Avalon but what are we supposed to do against the Silence? Truth be told, the Doctor is the only one who can defeat them."

"I want to keep him from doing something stupid," Avalon put her bag on the table. She was deeply terrified of what the Doctor could do on his own when he felt like there were no more options. She wasn't angry that he left her, she was angry that he thought it was the best option. She was so tired of having everyone trying to protect her. If something bad was going to happen to her, it would happen regardless of who was around her. Right now, she just wanted to get back to the Doctor and help him search through all the options he had. She wanted to fight at his side. The Silence had hurt her and her friends and she wanted to hunt them down for it.

"Hello ladies," Lena heard a familiar voice, a flirty voice. She knew who it was even before she looked up.

Captain Jack Harkness stopped in front of the table with his signature smile. Avalon rose up from her chair and hugged him. "Hi Jack."

"Oh my big brother would be having a heart attack right now," Lena mumbled her breath while she watched them hug.

"It is really good to know that you're back," Jack patted Avalon's arms and sighed. "You have no idea how bad the Doctor was when he called me."

"Of course he would find me," Avalon shrugged. "And now I need you to help me find _him_."

"What?"

Avalon motioned him to grab a seat as she sat back down herself.

"What's happened?" Jack asked, eyes flickering to Lena who seemed more nervous than ever.

"I'm assuming you know all about the Silence now, right?" Avalon asked.

"Yeah, sort of came up when the Doctor called me."

"There's a date that's coming up. April 24, 2011. According to some all mighty future news, that's the day the Doctor dies."

"Come again?" Jack made a face. "He doesn't die."

"He will, because we've seen it happen before," Avalon glanced at Lena. The latter sighed and nodded to confirm the story. "On that day, a future version of the Doctor will invite earlier versions of ourselves to meet him in Utah. We'll have a picnic by Lake Silencio and then a mysterious astronaut will rise from the lake...and she'll shoot him."

"She?" Jack caught on.

"She doesn't know," Lena said before Avalon could open her mouth. As soon as she did, Avalon threw a glare at Lena.

"I do know," Avalon reiterated despite the numerous arguments she had with Lena, Amy, Rory and even Ryland.

"What?" Jack felt like a broken record but until he got more information, that's all he had.

Avalon sighed and looked at him. "I've been going round and round in my head about who that astronaut is and every time I end up thinking it's me. I don't know what version of me it is but I think it's _me._ "

"Avalon, I hardly thinking-"

Avalon knew he was about to side with Lena and, thus, everyone else, so she cut him off. "Jack you have to listen to me. Everyone else thinks I'm crazy but you...you know a thing or two about memory wipes and timelines…"

Lena cleared her throat and mouthed a quick ' _She still doesn't know_ ' to Jack before he decided to let it slip who her mother was.

"Kovarian wiped some of my memories when she had me kidnapped. I've thought long and hard about this and I think I finally realized why she would do that. What if…" Avalon paused. It still made her stomach churn thinking about the possibility. She leaned forwards on the table, lowering her voice so that only Jack and Lena would hear her. "What if Kovarian made me do something so terrible that the only way she could send me back without ratting her out was to wipe my memories first?" Jack opened his mouth to respond but Avalon quickly shushed him and begged him to really think about it. "She didn't have to wipe my memories but she did. _Why_?"

It was the age old question that no one could answer. Even the Doctor had been left blank when they talked about it.

"I...I admit that there is a truth behind those words…" Jack began, "But don't you think you would've been sentenced to jail?"

"Not unless she covered her tracks. How do I confess to a crime I don't remember doing? How do I rat my allies out if I don't remember anything? Who's to say that she didn't kill any loose ends before wiping my memory clean?" Avalon thought she was making some very good points...and Jack might believe that she had.

"Avalon, even if this was true...what about it? What do you plan on doing?"

"Well, first I want to exhaust all my options before I go with the obvious. I want to find the Doctor and I want to help him fight the Silence. I want to know why they took me, why they targeted him. And above all, I don't want the Doctor to be alone." Avalon's gaze lowered to the table. "Because when he's alone, he starts to let all the guilt come through and there's no one to remind him that he's not at fault for what happened to me, to River, to Amy...and if he lets that happen, he'll do something stupid." When Avalon raised her eyes to Jack, they were glimmering with tears. "I can't let that happen. He's helped all of us so many times. It's our turn to help him."

Jack could get on board with that. He smiled at her. She sounded just like anyone who'd had the fortune of travelling with the Doctor. Of course, seeing her determined face told him it was far beyond what the Doctor's other friends felt for him. "You love him, don't you?"

Avalon sighed. "Yes, but please don't downplay everything I said before. I'm not doing it because I love him, I'm doing it because he deserves someone to fight for him."

"I agree with that," Jack straightened up in his chair, giving her a mock salute. Avalon smiled. "What do you need from me, ma'am?"

Avalon beamed. She glanced at Lena with newfound excitement. Lena could only inwardly sigh. This could either end really well or really bad.

"Alright, I know that Torchwood's closed down but you have ways of getting to the 51st century, right?"

"Yeah, vortex manipulator. Don't tell the Doctor I got it working again. He'd take it from me."

Avalon thought for a moment before saying, "Hm, maybe I should just stick you to the bottom of a fish hook with the manipulator and just wait for the Doctor to come."

Jack laughed at her. "You wouldn't!"

"Try me!" Avalon smirked.

"Oh Avalon, it's good to see you again," Jack said as he sobered from his laugh.

"Yeah," Avalon said quietly, her smile falling short but still a smile nonetheless. It was good to see an old face, even if said face had been on the receiving end of many, many screams. She'd make that up to him later on.

~ 0 ~

Several days passed by and in those days Avalon had heavy contact with Jack about possibly sightings of the Doctor. She even wanted to start looking into Kovarian's sightings...and that's where the Ponds had to draw the line. How they would deal with it had to be an extra type of smart because otherwise Avalon wouldn't listen to them. So they went about in a whole different way.

"River?" Avalon was puzzled with her appearance but then she realized she must have come visit her parents. It was only natural. Avalon let River into the Ponds' home and took a quick peek outside into the street...just in case. "Amy and Rory are at work."

"Ah, Amy found a job?" River asked, though Avalon presumed it was just a formality seeing as this was an older version coming to visit.

"Yeah," Avalon shut the door behind them. "Something about perfumes. Got lucky."

"Hm," River came straight into the living room like she knew there was something there. Avalon's work had been spread around the coffee table and the couch itself was buried under more of it. "Seems to me like you've been pretty busy yourself."

Avalon followed her and folded her arms, susiciously eyeing River. "Where are you from?"

With a smile, River turned to her. "Couple months after I visited you all at Demon's Run."

"So then you know exactly where I am," Avalon said quietly, watching River's smile fade. "And you know what I'm trying to do."

"Yes, I do."

"You didn't come to visit your parents, did you?"

"No, I did not." River picked up a random paper off the couch and gave it a quick skim. "Avalon, you are a wonderful writer but all this needs to stop. You can't go looking for the Doctor and much less Kovarian herself."

"I would think that you of all people would understand why I'm doing this," Avalon came forward and snatched the paper out of River's hand. "He's out there, River, on his own. He knows that he's supposed to die and I just know that he will try to sacrifice himself for us."

"I know very well how the story ends, Avalon, and for that reason I beg you to stop. You don't know how deep this goes-"

"Excuse you, I was kidnapped by Kovarian. I think I know just how deep it goes!"

"You spent a few months with her, I spent my entire life with her!" River snapped, quieting Avalon for the next few minutes. "I know exactly what Kovarian planned and how she did it, because where I stand she's already done it. Trust me when I say that you cannot change these events. They _must_ happen."

"Why!?"

"Because they need to, because if they don't, very important people cease to exist," River swallowed hard as she thought back to those moments. They weren't always good but just looking at her daughter made it all worth it. Avalon had no idea what her future was like and it all depended on the Silence's interference. It was a twisted story but it was sadly the reality.

"What?" frowned Avalon, understanding even less of what was going on. "The hell are you talking about?"

"Spoilers my dear," River sighed. "But please listen to me. I know how hurt you are but I promise you that I know what I'm talking about. If you interfere in any way, you will jeopardize the timelines."

"River, with all due respect, I don't give a damn," Avalon declared and turned away, striding out of the living room.

River shook her head at her. "Oh, you are definitely my daughter," she mumbled. "Avalon!" She called after the woman and stormed after her. "You need to listen to me!"

"I really don't," Avalon was in the kitchen trying to find something to snack on from the fridge. "I don't listen to anyone."

"I admire your bravery - or stupidity - but this is not what the Doctor wanted when he left you here."

"Well, I wouldn't know, would I?" Avalon slammed shut the fridge door, ignoring the quiet thud it gave, and turned to River. "Because he hasn't even tried talking to me in these last months! I've had to make do with what I have here and it's not exactly a picnic! I don't know if he's okay, if he's hurt, if he's...moved on." Avalon let a shuddering breath out.

"Moved on?" River repeated, now looking at her daughter like she was the crazy one. "You think he could do that? Oh sweetie, you have no idea. This is what I mean when I say we can't interfere with the timelines. There are important things that happen - _people_ , Avalon - that will be there because we let things happen the way they're supposed to. I swear to you that the Doctor could never get over you."

Avalon seemed to lose the fighting mode she had on - she'd been needing it against everyone lately - and moved over to the table. "Kovarian said some things when she, um, when she had me watching the Doctor's history. She mentioned that one day the Doctor would leave us - Amy, Rory...me - and that we would just be another bunch in his long list of companions."

River silently grabbed a char next to her. "That's not true."

Avalon used to believe that before the Doctor dropped her off like nothing. "How would we know? We're not with him, are we?"

"I just do. I'm from the future, right?"

"Kovarian said there was a girl after us," Avalon went on, clearly discarding River's last words, "She's the one who brings the Doctor to wherever it is that terrifies the whole Silence. The Doctor moves on from us, forgets us…"

"That's not true," River shook her head. "You know it's not."

"I don't know anything, River," Avalon sighed heavily as she placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her hands. "Not anymore. I don't know where my Fairy Tale Man is, I don't know what he's doing. For all I know, he's figured out a way to stop everything and he's just...moved on. The story with Avalon Reynolds finished for him."

"Now stop that!" River actually scolded, letting her mother side slip out. "You know that's not true. Kovarian wanted to mess with your head and I'll be damned if that happens. You have to listen to me, Avalon. The Doctor is just trying to keep you safe from the Silence and it would break his hearts if you got yourself hurt trying to look for him."

Avalon met her look with a pretty serious one. Everyone seemed to think she was doing this blind, like she had no logical reasons for it. Yes, she was afraid that perhaps the Doctor really was done with her, but she really did want to help. It was just the longer it took to find him, the more crazy ideas her mind started coming up with. But in the end, there was one sad reality that she carried with her every day. "He's already hurt me, he broke my heart leaving me here." What was worse is that he had still kept his promise to her. He would be with her until the day _he_ died. She would be there, just not her current self.

River had nothing to say to that and even as Avalon got up to leave, she couldn't think of anything comforting to say.

~ 0 ~

More months passed by and despite Avalon's heavy insistence for River to stay away if she was going to be against her work, River kept stopping by. Amy and Rory were thankful for her visits because they had thoroughly given up trying to stop Avalon's search. She was going to get herself into trouble that they wouldn't be able to pull her out of. She'd already given them scary moments as it was.

They'd been particularly terrified when Avalon disappeared for days. They thought maybe the Silence had found _her_ instead but then she reappeared with River who had brought her back nearly by the ear. Amy and Rory had never seen River act like such a mother at that moment. She had found Avalon lurking through a planet known to have a church filled with Silence. River knew exactly what that church was and while it was one of the benign sects of the Silence she didn't trust that there wasn't one traitorous Silent amongst them. In another moment, she would commend Avalon for even finding out about that place but for the current moment, she was furious that Avalon had gone in there on her own.

"I HATE YOU!" Avalon stalked up the staircase when River let her go. Amy and Rory had long ago set up a room just for her and now she would be using it to lock herself away.

"I'm taking this," River waved a familiar vortex manipulator in her hand. "Avalon knicked it off Jack. He was proud that she'd been able to sneak it off him but I'm not sharing the sentiment."

"She's definitely acting like versions of you," Rory mumbled.

Amy agreed with a nod. "What are we going to do with her? I don't think the Doctor planned on her being this...this determined."

"No, no, he planned for it," River hated to admit it. "He knows exactly who Avalon is and that's why he's been extra careful not to make outstanding appearances."

"Have _you_ talked to him?" Rory eyed River suspiciously. He wouldn't put it behind the two to have secret meetings about all this timeline and Silence stuff.

River looked at her father for a long minute before completely glossing over the answer. "He's keeping an eye on her but...we all have to pitch in."

"Thing is, Avalon's not a child. She's got feelings and she's pretty damn smart," Amy folded her arms and glanced at the staircase. "She's able to trick us with minimal effort."

"We just have to keep trying," River said, shrugging her shoulders. "I've done a lot to keep my daughter safe, this is just another of those moments."

From that point on, everyone agreed to keep a heavier eye on Avalon. As annoying and frustrating as it was, Avalon wouldn't try to hurt them. She knew they were trying to help but she would keep doing her search no matter what.

~ 0 ~

It would be one day that somewhat calmed Avalon for a moment. It was no ordinary day and that's why it managed to ease her.

She sat on the couch with a tattered blanket over her legs - an old childhood blanket - and gazed at a beautiful rose gold rose with bright green leaves in her hand. It shined as if it were metal but each time she touched one of its petals, a soft pink dust sprinkled from it...like fairydust. As hurt as she felt, she couldn't help but smile each time the dust would fill the air.

"Happy birthday Avalon," she heard from behind. Avalon shifted a bit to see River coming in with a tempting gift in her hands. "Big 24!" She leaned down and kissed the top of Avalon's head.

"Has it really been 2 years since America?" Avalon shook her head. That really seemed like a long time ago.

River scooted Avalon's legs so she could sit on the couch. "Oh, do you remember the last time we celebrate your birthday? What was it? You're 21st? Oh, what fun that was!"

"Yeah, I got so drunk that, that night is very blurry," Avalon sighed but with a content smile. It had been a fun night.

"Still, I know there's a small get together Amy's fixing up in the backyard for you!"

"I'm not really up for the celebration but I'll just let it happen for them. They've been so nice letting me stay over even when my house is just a couple blocks down."

River smiled lightly. "That's a good girl. Here, open my present!" She handed the gift to Avalon and motioned her to unwrap it.

Avalon set her rose on her lap then pulled the wrapping paper off the gift. Her eyes widened when she found a porcelain doll. It had bright orange hair like she had, curly too, and dark eyes. It had a green period dress and a small tiara over its head. "Oh my God…"

"Do you like it?" River had to control herself so she didn't look so eager for her reaction.

Avalon looked up with twinkling eyes. "You remembered!"

"That you always wanted one of those dolls but never got them because Lena was scared of them," River laughed. "I figured Lena's old enough to understand not to go into your room."

Avalon had to laugh at that. "Right." She fixed some of the orange strands of the doll's hair and smiled. "Thank you, River. I love it."

"Happy birthday, sweetie," River leaned over to hug her tightly. "I know it's been a rough year but you are so strong. You'll make it through this."

Avalon would love to believe that but the truth was this year was kicking her ass. She set her new porcelain doll to the side and picked up her rose-gold rose again. "I got this in the morning."

River raised an eyebrow at it. "Oh, that's fancy." Avalon brushed her fingers over the petals and allowed for River to see the sprinkles of 'fairydust' fly from it. "Ah," River's eyes widened. "That's from Aurals." Avalon gave her a puzzled look, obviously not in the loop about the place she spoke of. "It's a planet. You'd love it. They're the only planet to grow those types of flowers. They look like they're fake but they're actually very real. Where'd you get that from?"

Avalon said nothing as she reached for a white card on the coffee table. She opened it up and reread the letter she'd practically clung to earlier in the morning. ' _Happy birthday my Ava. I'm afraid that by now you either hate me or, well, you're hunting me down to kill me.'_

River snorted, nearly laughing. "That man…"

' _I know that you're very upset with me but please understand that I did not 'leave' you, I had to give you up. I was trying to save you one last time by letting you live in peace while I search for those bad people who hurt you. But today is your day, Ava. Twenty four years ago, a little princess was born and she took life by storm. I love you Avalon, please remember that. Never doubt that. Happy birthday my love."_

Avalon looked up with teary eyes. "Signed by ' _Your Fairy Tale Man_ '." She drew in a deep breath, controlling those tears that wanted to come out. She'd cried earlier and she wasn't interested in doing it again. "He was here, River. He was here at some point and he left me this...but he didn't' even talk to me."

"I suspect he knew if he did, he wouldn't be able to leave anymore," River said. She didn't need to be from the future to know that.

"Well, I wouldn't let him leave," Avalon sniffed. She held her rose close to her chest.

"Oh c'mon, no pouty face," River pointed at her. "That's not what the Doctor wanted from you, especially today. It's your birthday!"

Avalon sighed and looked at her rose. "Yeah, it is…" Maybe she should look at things from a different angle, at least for today, and focus on the part where the Doctor actually came back. Even if it was just for a moment, he had been there for one moment and just for _her_.

She might still be a little special.

~ 0 ~

"Why are you so happy today?" Amy asked then suddenly received an elbow on her side. Rory passed by with a sharp look on his face. She shouldn't question why their granddaughter was so happy, not unless they were looking for Avalon to do the opposite.

Avalon ignored the little moment as she planted her bag on the kitchen table. "I...sort of got a job," she announced. She expected their similar surprised states but she didn't expect them to look so funny. "It's not the end of the world if I get a job, is it?"

"No, no, but…" Rory said, clearing his throat, "We just didn't expect you to...get one."

"Yeah, you hate Leadworth," Amy leaned against the counter, eyeing Avalon suspiciously.

"I do," Avalon made sure to clarify first. "But I figure it's time to stop being a freeloader. Plus, remember that little girl that loved my public reading I did last year? Aurora?" They both nodded. Avalon hadn't stopped talking about that little girl after the event. It truly warmed Avalon's heart to know that a child loved her story so much. "Well, she's six now and I bumped into her in Mrs. Kepner's bookstore. She recognized me and she started going on about how much she would love for me to read more of my stories. Mrs. Kepner thought it was a good idea and so she offered me a job at the store. I'll be doing the public readings with the kids and if I happen to come up with new stories, I'm more than welcomed to read those too."

"Avalon, that's great!" Rory exclaimed, rushing over to hug her first.

"Yeah," Avalon chuckled. "I figure I might as well do something productive while I search for the Doctor."

Amy would gladly take the compromise. She came next to hug Avalon. "I'm really happy for you. It'll be good for you."

"We'll see," Avalon shrugged. "At the very least it'll keep from going crazy and murdering people." Because, oh yes, she remembered exactly what kind of people lived in the town. It was why she barely left the house. At least in the bookstore there'd be more kids and teenagers, people that weren't aware of her reputation. Though she would inevitably have to deal with adults, she knew it would just be for a small time.

"Well hey, how about we celebrate by going into the city?" Amy asked suddenly. "We can have lunch over there and maybe do a little shopping-"

"Ooooh, I could do some shopping," Avalon nodded fast. Both gingers missed the way Rory scrunched his face. Those two at a mall would take bloody forever. "I really miss the wardrobe the TARDIS had for me."

"C'mon!" Amy exclaimed. "Rory, get the credit cards!"

"Yay," Rory muttered as he followed the two women out.

"We should call River," Avalon said, making him groan.

"God no, I'm staying behind!"

"No, you're not," Amy said and so it was.

~ 0 ~

"Jesus, Avalon, did you leave anything for the store?" Rory struggled to carry the new bags Avalon came out with.

"You're over-exaggerating," she patted his cheek and looked around. "Where's Amy and River?"

"They went into the department store," Rory said, nodding towards the store at the end of them. Both his hands were occupied with her bags, Amy's and even River's.

"Yay! C'mon!" Avalon grabbed one of his arms and pulled him towards the store.

"No, no more! My arms are going to fall off!"

"Oh, you're over-exaggerating!"

"I'm really not! I haven't felt my right arm in over an hour!"

Avalon rolled her eyes and led them into the store. It was pretty crowded but they eventually found Amy and River near the perfume area.

"Oh, is that your perfume!?" Avalon practically shrieked, attracting the attention of several of the customers. She ignored them all as she ran towards the glass counter. She grabbed the purple perfume from River's hands and sprayed herself.

"It's a sample, Avalon," Amy said and snatched the bottle from her before she used up the entire thing.

"But it smells so good!" Avalon exclaimed, trying to take it back from her. "For the girl who's tired of waiting! Killer slogan!"

"Yeah, that's quite a real line for us," River said quietly. Amy looked over Avalon with an agreeing nod.

"Oh! Amy!" They heard Rory's shout. He had dropped half the bags he was carrying and things were rolling.

"God, he's helpless," Amy sighed and handed the perfume back to River to go help Rory.

"You go help too!" Avalon plucked the perfume from River's hands and motioned her to 'run along'.

"I think not!" River forced her to put the perfume down on the counter. "C'mon, maybe we can find a nice present for Lena. Her birthday's coming up, remember?"

"I know," Avalon rubbed the side of her head. "I'm clueless on what to give her."

"So then let's look," River whistled for the saleslady to come help them.

~ 0 ~

Two hundred years later would find the Doctor posing as a department store employee and handling a visit with Craig Owens and his new baby son. In all his time of existence he never thought he could end up in a place like that and he'd gotten around plenty of times. Unfortunately, trouble always seemed to follow him as well, no matter how old he got. There were Cybermen in hiding and he had to discover where they were before things got bad, even if that came at a price of dealing with an irritated Craig. But sometimes he had little lucky moments in which something good happened. Right now, as he gazed upon his former companions, Amy and Rory, he knew it was one of those lucky moments.

They'd been picking up shopping bags that Rory had dropped - he wondered why Rory had that many bags in the first place - and then suddenly, a little girl had come up to Amy asking for an autograph. It took the Doctor a few seconds to realize that somehow that Pond had gotten herself a perfume after her.

"For Ellie," Amy smiled and handed the notepad back to the girl, "I like your hairband," she remarked as she stood straight again.

Ellie touched her headband and beamed, "Thank you," she said as she returned to her mother only a couple feet away.

"Can we take a rest... _please_?" Rory asked Amy and held his arms out with the shopping bags, making Amy laugh. "I can't feel my arms!"

"Yeah, alright," Amy decided to take pity on his misery. "But that's what happens when you get a daughter _and_ a granddaughter. We outnumber you." Rory rolled his eyes but he was mighty better when Amy gave him a kiss. "Avalon! River! Time to go!"

"In a _minute_!" came the irritated response from Avalon.

The Doctor's hearts nearly stopped when he caught sight of Avalon by the perfume counter. It'd been 200 hundred years since he last saw her. He didn't know how he could've made it this far but he knew it was because he hadn't seen her. It took every last bit of his will not to come get her from Leadworth. He had to remind himself that he needed to keep her safe and search for the Silence, but that search had come to an end a while back. Now he was just drifting through until the moment came. It was why it'd become even more difficult to stay away. He knew his end was coming, there was nothing he could do to change it, so why not spend his last moments with Avalon? He didn't want to hurt her. The Silence had done enough of that. But it seemed like the universe was giving him one last gift before his end.

"God, River, you have terrible taste in perfumes!" Avalon had just sent the saleslady away.

"Excuse you and that mouth of yours!" River huffed. "I do not!"

Avalon raised the bottle she was eyeing and sprayed it to the side. "Dogs wouldn't walk through that."

River's face almost made the Doctor laugh and give himself up. He'd never seen her like that and he was sure that the only reason she was holding back was because it was Avalon on the receiving end.

"You are rude," River finally spoke after a few moments of silence.

"Tell me something I don't know," Avalon shrugged. She tucked some hair behind her ear, allowing the Doctor to see she still wore his watch on her wrist.

He swallowed hard. All he had to do was take a step towards her and she would see him. He was aware that she'd done everything to find him, even going as far as calling in Jack Harkness to help her (that might have made him a bit jealous, just a bit), and while it was tempting to go back to her...he couldn't do it. He was dying, that was the truth. He had to die in order for the world to keep going. If the world kept going, then Avalon would be safe. If he died, the Silence would leave her alone. That's the reason he kept away in these last days.

~ 0 ~

It was late when the Ponds got back to Leadworth. Rory happily let each woman take their bags into the house while he went to grab himself some wine. Yeah, he deserved that.

"You're so mean, Rory!" Avalon shouted from the foyer.

"Yup," he agreed as he searched for the wine glasses in the cabinets.

Amy dumped her bags on the living room floor, not even trying to make it to the stairs. "Okay, I'm so tired."

"I can keep these here, right?" River gestured to her own pile of bags behind the couch. "Stormcage doesn't exactly allow for all this stuff."

"Oh, but they allow you to escape every now and then?" Avalon arched an eyebrow at her.

"Your mouth is on an extra one today," River wagged a finger at her.

Avalon cheekily smiled and moved to gather her stuff from the table. She heard her phone buzz in her bag a moment later. She left the papers in a somewhat neat pile and pulled her phone out of the bag. She read the quick text she'd gotten and gasped so loudly that she worried her grandmother and mother.

"What, what was it!?" River quickly hurried around the couch to meet her.

"I, uh, I got myself in contact with some people on New Earth. They're like your version of detectives and they just got word of a possible sighting of a Silent."

"What? That's stupid," Amy frowned. "How would they even remember them?"

"Because I told them about the chip that Kovarian used on me. They've made their own version - that's not the point! I have to go!" Avalon only made it two steps towards the doorway before River held her back.

"Are you deranged!? You can't go hunt down the Silence!"

"It's just one!"

"It doesn't matter! You can't go there!"

"Yes I can!" Avalon wrestled free from River's arms and turned around to face her. "And you're not stopping me! Nobody is!"

"Avalon, you need to understand this! We've been over this! The timelines-"

"I DON'T CARE!" Avalon screamed. "I don't give a crap about timelines, not when it can stop the Doctor from dying!"

"The people, Avalon. The people that I'm talking about would cease to exist!" River was now fully terrified that this time she might not be able to stop Avalon from going off in search of the Silence. Amy could see that fear from her spot too.

"What people, dammit!? You always say that but you never say who! For all I know you could be lying!" Avalon shook her head. "I'm Gm _going_ to New Earth and there is nothing you can do nor say to stop me!"

River watched her turn and leave. Her mind was spinning, everything was spinning actually, and the only thing she heard was ' _Don't tell Avalon, don't tell Avalon, don't tell Avalon!_ '. She couldn't let Avalon near the Silence, it was the biggest task she had and it was the only thing she could do for her daughter in a life that hadn't exactly allowed her to be a Mother. But right now Avalon was going straight into danger and she could _not_ allow it.

"Avalon, stop it! Come back!"

"No!"

River hurried out of the living room with Amy hot on her trail.

"What is going on?" Rory emerged from the kitchen to see Avalon practically sprinting towards the door.

"Avalon, stop! You can't go to New Earth!" River continued to call after her. Amy came rushing after her and now with Rory.

"Why not!?"

"Because I know how everything ends! I know what happens and what must always happen!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm not listening to anymore of this!" Avalon grabbed the door knob.

"You _need_ to listen to me because I'm your Mother! I _know_ what I'm talking about!" River actually felt like she would combust in that moment. Everything was on fast mode and she didn't register all the words she'd said until after she had.

But Avalon had heard the very moment she said it. Her hand had frozen midway as she turned the door knob. She turned her head towards River, catching sight of Amy behind them. " _What_?"

River brought a hand to her forehead. This wasn't how she pictured this moment but she had to do it. Anything to keep her safe. "I'm...I'm your Mother, Avalon. I-I know it's hard to understand but it's true. I'm your mother, I know exactly what the Silence is planning because they planned it around me...around _us_. And I'm so sorry but everything has to happen the way it already has...otherwise _you_ cease to exist."

Avalon didn't say anything. She couldn't. Nothing was making sense right now. River couldn't be telling her the truth. She looked at Amy and Rory for some help, but they had these weird faces. She wanted them to tell her that River was lying, that she was just saying the first thing that popped into her head to stop her from leaving...but they kept quiet. In fact, they were looking at her with sympathy.

"Oh my God," Avalon felt sick to her stomach. "You're not...you're not lying…"

"No, no, I'm not lying. I'm so sorry," River said, taking a step towards her but she saw the exact moment the anger crossed Avalon's face.

"You abandoned me!" She pushed River away. There was a part of her that told her this was all familiar. The sick feeling in her stomach felt like it'd already been there for the exact same reason.

"No, no I didn't!" River reached out for her, wanting so desperately to touch her daughter.

"You left me with my uncle! You have no right to tell me what to do! You've…" Avalon brought her hands to her face as a sour laugh slipped through her lips. "Oh my God, now it makes sense. Now I get why you were always so determined to be around me, to...to make me stop this search." She dropped her hands but pointed a menacing finger towards River. "How dare you come into my life like you didn't abandon me! And how dare you try to tell me what to do! You have no right, none at all, to tell me anything!"

"Ava, how about you calm down and let River explain everything?" Rory thought he could use his special relationship with her to bring her away from the door. He was right. For a second, Avalon faltered. "I'm sure this isn't how she wanted to tell you."

"It wasn't," River agreed quickly.

"Look, I'm not mad at either of you," Avalon said to him and Amy. "I told you not to tell me anything. And would you like to know why?" She flashed a glare at River. "Because I thought it was unfair how my 'mother'-" she did quick air quotations with her hands, "-left it all with you two and the Doctor. None of you deserved to carry that burden." There were tears pooling in her eyes and she fought against them with everything she had not to let them out. "My mother was supposed to tell me that herself but then again she wasn't supposed to abandon me."

"I didn't abandon you, Avalon," River tried to say again without getting interrupted. "I had to give you up."

"Oh my God, if I had a penny for every time I heard that…" Avalon shook her head, quickly wiping off some stray tears.

"I know, I know it's all difficult and you're angry but if you would just come back I can explain everything."

"No, it's too late," Avalon warned River to stay right where she was. "I am 24 years old and how old are you? Far from the age you were when you had me, I'm sure. You never said a word to me! You are _not_ my mother! Emmalina Reynolds is." She quickly pulled the door open and ran out before anyone could stop her.

"What are we going to do? Are we going to let her leave?" Rory hurried towards the door.

"She's not going anywhere," River cleared her own tears off her face. "The manipulator is with Ryland. I'll give him a quick call…"

"River, I'm so sorry," Amy hugged her daughter. She wished she could've done more than just stand there but it felt like it was something River had to do, no matter how painful it was.

"It's fine, I'm…" River wouldn't bother finishing the sentence. She had to act fast. "I have to call Ryland...and maybe someone else too. Scuse me." She sidestepped Amy and went back into the living room.

~ 0 ~

Avalon wandered - stumbled - through the park. She'd barely made it back to her house when all of a sudden she was bombarded between Ryland and Lena. No doubt River had called them in advance to tell them what happened...and to tell them not to let her have the manipulator. She was essentially stuck on earth because of River. She was confused, weren't 'mothers' supposed to want the best for their kids? River failed in all aspects.

She'd began to remember the same moment happening a long time ago with Kovarian. She'd already known this information - Kovarian had told her right in the beginning that River was her mother - but she was made to forget. She had all those pictures of River throughout her life and none of them showed a shred of someone who was a mother. She never came for her daughter.

"You never cared…" Avalon drew in a breath as she came to a stop in front of the duck pond. The ducks were idly swimming by like nothing.

River abandoned her as a newborn. What right did she have playing the 'mum' card now? Here she was trying to make her life better after all the crap she'd been through and River just waltzes in and tries to dismantle it?

Avalon stifled a sob. She shouldn't cry for that woman, but maybe the tears weren't all for her. The past two years had been terrible. So many things had happened. This was the tip of the iceberg and the worst part is that she didn't even have the Doctor around.

She let herself slowly fall to the ground to sit against the rock wall of the pond. She brought her knees up to her chest and sniffled. She just sat there for God knew how long, thinking about everything that had gone wrong in her life. How could one person have this much misfortune? She didn't understand...or maybe she did. Maybe this was her punishment for the way she was when she was younger. _Maybe if I'd grown up with my actual parents I would've turned out differently,_ she bitterly thought. How would her life be if she'd grown up with Oliver Reynolds and River Song?

Her thoughts were cut off when she heard a wheeze in the air. There was even a light breeze to accompany it. She raised her head, staying completely still before her mind thought things that weren't true. She was so angry, so sad, that her mind wasn't completely there. But she'd heard right. Her ears were working perfectly and were her eyes. The TARDIS had materialized across her and slowly, the Doctor emerged from it. The look on his face told her everything.

Somebody had called him. Avalon closed her eyes. That meant River could have _always_ called him.

"She is a goddamn liar," she spat with all the hatred she could muster.

"My Ava…" the Doctor cautiously approached her. He didn't want to get too close to her because this was his last stop and he would have to leave again. She was crying, though, how could he resist?

"When did you first find out?" Avalon asked quietly. She flinched away from him when he sat down beside her. She'd spent a whole year searching for him and now to have him next to her felt odd.

"On Demons Run," he answered just as quietly. "I thought you were Amy's and Rory's child but it turned out the Silence had your files because you were River's daughter."

"I may be her daughter but she is _not_ my mother. Mothers do not abandon their child, they do not lie to them…"

"Avalon, none of us know why River gave you up, but I can imagine it wasn't because she wanted to."

"How would anyone know that?" Avalon finally looked at him. The moment she did she had to take a moment just to remind herself that he was actually _there._

He looked at her as well and offered her a small smile. "Because I was once a father and I know the look a parent has when they know their child is hurt. I don't know why River gave you up to Ryland but she didn't do it because she didn't love you. Quite the opposite, actually."

"I don't believe it," Avalon took in a breath. "If I had a child, I would _never_ leave them."

"Even if it meant they would be completely safe?" The Doctor knew the challenge the question posed and he imagined it was the same challenge River had to have faced in her past. "Avalon, you don't know what it's like being a parent. There's this drive in you - an instinct - to keep your child safe no matter what. I had that, Amy had that on Demons Run, Rory had it while we searched for Amy and Melody. I'm guessing River had that the day she gave you up. But you know, all we can do is speculate until you go and talk to her."

"No," Avalon said on the spot. "I saw the pictures Kovarian had of her. She didn't look like she missed me a lot."

"What do you mean?" frowned the Doctor. "Kovarian told you this?"

"She did, and then she wiped it away like the rest of my memories. She had all these pictures of River having the time of her life without me. I don't want her - I don't want her to be my Mother." Tears flowed from Avalon's face. "Please don't make me go back there. I don't want to see her." She practically threw her body over his for what she intended to be a hug.

Still, the Doctor held her in their awkward half-lying positions and held her tight. Two hundred years was a long time to go without touching her. "I _am_ very sorry, Avalon. No one should have to suffer the way you have."

"Just say you won't leave me again." She was holding him like her life depended on it, her eyes screwed shut. "Say you won't, please."

"You know I can't do that, Ava. I love you but...Time says I have to die. If I die, then the Silence leaves you and your family alone. They just want me."

Avalon pulled away to look at him. She studied his eyes - as much as she could with her blurred vision - and saw something new in them. _Resignation._ "How...how long has it been?"

"Ava…" He preferred not to look at her right now.

"I deserve the truth, dammit. Tell me!"

"I'm 1,103," he answered quietly.

Avalon let out a noise of horror. She slowly picked herself up from the ground, prompting him to do the same. New tears had filled her eyes as she studied him. He looked so tired. "I said I wouldn't let that happen. I wouldn't let you be on your own, especially for that long."

"It wasn't on you to stop anything, Avalon. I had to do it." He couldn't help himself. He had to touch her again. He reached out for her body and was relieved that she'd let him. He was able to wrap an arm around her waist and bring her body to his. He rested his forehead against her, taking a moment to smell her lavender scent again. "Do you know that in a thousand years, I've never really had anyone affect me the way you have?"

"I make everyone sick eventually," Avalon sighed.

"No," he managed to chuckle. She would say something like that. He brought his free hand up to her chin, taking a gentle hold of it. Her skin was still just as smooth and warm as he remembered it. "You're the only one who's ever kept up with me even when I was unbearable. And I've had my moments." Now it was Avalon's turn to smile, even if it was through her tears. "You remember our heist?"

"Yeah," she felt a rush of heat when she remembered their insane snog session in the middle of it.

"You and I...we've had the best adventures together. Make that into a story, will you? Maybe it'll inspire some other person to sweep their loved one off their feet."

"I don't want to write about you as if you were gone," she sniffled. "Please don't go." She curled her hand around his arm that was touching her face. "I don't want to lose you a second time. Watching you die was the most painful moment of my life. Please don't go to that place."

"You have no idea how much I would rather stay here with you, with my Ponds, but I have somewhere to be, somewhere Time needs me to be," he pushed a few strands of her hair out of her wet face. "I just needed to come and say goodbye properly."

"I promised myself that I wouldn't let you go to that place. I tried doing my best to keep you from going there…"

"You did everything you could and you have no idea how much that means to me, but it's time to stop. It's okay to stop. I figured everything out, darling. I know that I have to be there."

Avalon felt her heart breaking all over again and she was getting tired of it. Nothing seemed to work right. He was just giving himself up like that, like he had to...like he had to go face that astronaut. "Do you...do you know who the astronaut is?" She whispered.

The Doctor lowered his head for a moment. He had worked it out after his long search, after his long talks and research, but there was just one thing he still never figured out. _The letter_. That damn letter that warned Avalon of what was coming, no one had the answer to it.

"Doctor?" Avalon called, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Did you?"

"Yes," he ultimately said. "But I can't tell you, I'm sorry."

Avalon sighed. "That's a shocker. No one can tell me anything, no one can tell me the truth...can anyone tell me anything?"

"I love you," the Doctor said, offering her his best smile, as if they were in the middle of another date. He loved that it still made her smile. He stroked patterns over her cheek. "It's been 200 hundred years and you have no idea how much I've wanted to tell you that in person again. I love you my Ava."

Avalon leaned into his touch. "I love you too."

"I _do_ have to go, though. I just wanted to say that one more time," the Doctor swallowed hard and looked her in her sad, teary eyes.

"...there's nothing I can do to stop you anymore?"

"I have to, I'm sorry."

Avalon was scared out of her mind but it seemed like he had made his choice. She just had no idea how she was supposed to let him walk away again. "There's so many things we could've done together. You said you were taking me to, um, Akhaten?"

"Right," the Doctor nodded. "You would've loved it."

"We could've pulled another heist," she bit her lip and leaned on him.

"And watched Rory have a heart attack?"

Avalon smirked. "We would've won this time." She let her fingers tap over his chest, something she missed doing too. "We would've been on the same team this time, you and I...we would've won the whole thing."

"Yeah we would've," the Doctor grinned at the image of them pulling a second heist with the worst shenanigans they could come up with. He pulled her hands off him and held them tightly in his. He stared at her smirking face and felt the air leave his body. She was insanely beautiful and she had been with _him_. For a short moment in his life, she had been with him and they'd been happy.

_Timetogotimetogotimetogo_. He needed to get out of there because he was one second away from whisking her off into the TARDIS to kiss forever.

He let one of her hands go and snapped his fingers. The TARDIS doors opened up but instead of walking straight for them, he needed to do something first. He was going to leave but he had to do it right this time. He couldn't sneak off like the last time. Avalon didn't deserve that.

"Would you dance with me?" He asked her. She blinked at him, naturally expecting him to say anything but that. She took her hands out of his. "Would you dance with me, Ava?"

"Dance?"

He nodded. "I'm going to die, but I have to dance with my princess first. Can't imagine leaving without one."

New tears came to Avalon's eyes. He was really going to do it. _Don't waste your last moment_ , the voice in her head warned. She couldn't waste it. These were her last moments with him that she would remember forever. She took his hand, squeezing it tightly.

"Play us something sweet, will you?" The Doctor called to the TARDIS, or so it seemed. A few seconds later a familiar tune started playing.

Avalon laughed lightly. " _Once Upon a Dream_."

"Our first dance together," the Doctor reminded her, not that she needed to be reminded. It was their first dance as friends and their first dance on their first date. As if she would ever forget that. He put an arm around her waist again and started to sway to the song.

Little by little, Avalon let go of his hand and brought her arms around his neck. She rested her head against his chest, wanting to be as close as possible to him. " _I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream. I know you! The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam. Yet I know it's true, the visions are seldom all they seem…_ "

The Doctor laid his cheek over the top of Avalon's head, smiling contently for the first time in a long time. He would always love her beautiful voice.

" _...but if I know you, I know what you'll do. You'll love me at once, the way you did once upon a dream,_ " she sniffled. "Do you ever sing?"

The Doctor hummed. "That...would be a no. I don't sing."

"I wish you would," Avalon looked up at him. "We could, um-" she forced herself to smile, "-we could've sang ' _A Whole New World_ '. That would've fit us, huh?"

"I think so, yeah," the Doctor chuckled. They just didn't have the time anymore. _Time's up_. He brought a finger under her chin then leaned down and kissed her. She quickly kissed him back.

A whole year waiting and searching for him had seemed to lead them to this moment. She wished they could do this forever and ever. Their arms wrapped around each other so tightly there was no chance of moving. Avalon remembered all the sappy movies that had those really long, passionate kisses and she would make fun of them all the time. Who knew that she'd end up having one of her own? It was a terrible moment when they had to end it. They pulled away what was necessary to look into each other's eyes, silently saying goodbye to each other.

"You have been my best story," Avalon whispered, having to bite her lower lip to keep herself from bursting into sobs right there and then. "Is there not another story?"

"The next story will be you living happily. Maybe writing a couple stories here and there...and going back to that sweet family who loves you so much," the Doctor tapped her nose. "Try to talk to River, okay?"

"Try to stay alive?" Avalon played her final card which was just to ask. River did say to her that he was never able to say 'no' to _her_. Let's see if she lied about that too. She cupped his face and leaned closer to his lips. "For me?"

The Doctor swallowed hard. She was far too close for him not to try and kiss her again. The TARDIS wasn't that far away from them, was it? _Out of time!_ Right. He had to focus...but she was looking at him, pleading with him to listen to her.

_Maybe_ …

Avalon pressed one final kiss to his lips. "Goodbye, Fairy Tale Man."

"Goodbye, my Ava," he smiled softly...with tears in his eyes. He forced himself to step away from her, one of the hardest things he had to do. He looked at her one last time, shuddering a breath that wanted to lead to more tears. He turned away and walked back to the TARDIS.

Avalon hugged herself as she watched the Doctor disappear inside the TARDIS. Seconds later, she heard the wheezing noise as the box started disappearing. Her eyes might as well have been water wells by that point. She would've let herself cry right there and then if she hadn't noticed a figure standing behind the de-materializing TARDIS. It took her a few minutes to realize what it was… _who_ it was.

"Hello Mother," the adult Sapling smiled at her and waved with one hand.

Avalon's eyes widened, immediately figuring he must have hitched a ride with the Doctor. Those two had played such a sneaky surprise on her. She ran up to him, throwing her arms around his much taller figure now that he was an adult. "Oh my Sapling! You've come back!"

"I had to," the Sapling hugged his mother tightly. "Father said you would need me."

Avalon could only nod against his wooden chest.

~ 0 ~

**51st century, Luna University.**

A very young River Song sat in a study with a table full of books and several official files in front of her. With a hand over her stomach, she dropped one of the files and picked up her opened diary to see a date written in one of the pages. She had looked it over at least a thousand times, along with the research she'd done, and she just couldn't figure it out.

"Tick, tock, goes the clock. And what now shall we play?" She heard a strange voice in the room say, "Tick, tock, goes the clock. Now summer's gone away."

"Hello?" River called. "Oliver? Are you playing a game on me? I don't like them."

Kovarian appeared from the shadows of the room flashing a smug smile at River. "Such a lovely old song. But is it about him?"

"You know about the Doctor?" River raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the strange woman. She thought she seemed familiar but...her mind was a bit fuzzy sometimes.

"So very well," Kovarian nodded and smirked at the long stare River was giving her, "Don't try and remember me. We have been far too thorough with your dear little head. I brought a gift, though" she informed as she reached across the table to take River's diary. "Well... _gifts_."

"A...what?" River blinked.

Kovarian smirked again as she came forwards and picked up River's diary off the table. "So they made you a doctor today, did they? Doctor River Song. How clever you are. You understand what this is, don't you?" She turned the diary around for River to see.

"According to some accounts it's the day the Doctor dies," River answered quietly. "But that's what they are, just 'accounts'. Rumors."

"By Silencio Lake on the Plain of Sighs an impossible astronaut will rise from the deep and strike the Time Lord dead," Kovarian recited with a great smile, as if it were her favorite story...and perhaps...

"It's a story, that's all," River shrugged, though she seemed nervous.

Kovarian sighed casually and set the diary back on the table, "And this is where it begins," she informed, "My gifts to you," she snapped her fingers and immediately a door opened from behind where two of the Silence entered holding a very familiar woman.

"What the hell is that?" River's eyes widened at the sight of the Silence.

"Your owners _and_ , currently, hers," Kovarian gestured back.

"You let me go! Let me go right now!" Avalon kicked and stomped as she was brought in by the creatures. When she saw River she paused but then a deep fury marked her face. "YOU!" She tried going for her, shocking River until Avalon started to yell, "You're not my Mother! I don't want you!"

River swallowed thickly. "How did…?"

"Oh, shush child," Kovarian waved the ginger off and focused on River. "I'm about to make a deal with Mummy."

"Let her go right this instant," River ordered but dared not stand up at the moment.

"Here is the deal, Melody Pond," Kovarian set her hands on the table and leaned forwards, "Those stories of Lake Silencio are all true. The Doctor will be there and he will be shot. An astronaut is to rise from Silencio Lake and it will. The only thing I haven't decided is which one of you will it be? You...or your daughter?"

"I don't understand, how do you know who I am? And how do you have Avalon? I watched the Doctor take her into the TARDIS. She's safe!"

"Ah, time travel my dear. This is just before Berlin. I have your younger self waiting for orders in Leadworth," Kovarian's lips curled into a devilish smile. "I made you what you are and I also prepared a back up. I have trained your daughter to do the task, brainwashed her, everything I need to get this right."

"I am not her daughter!" Avalon still fiercely yelled. "You left me!"

"I didn't do anything," River weakly argued, much too confused to put up a proper defense. As far as she knew, she hadn't left her daughter all.

"Yet!" Avalon snapped. "You abandoned me!"

"I haven't!" River slammed her hands down on the table as she got up from her chair, letting Avalon see that she really hadn't.

Avalon went into shock and fell silent. River was pregnant, _very_ pregnant. She hadn't done anything yet, none of the things Kovarian had shown her. "Oh my God…"

River settled a hand over her stomach. "I'm almost due," she said with a half smile. "And I will never abandon my child."

Before Avalon could say anything, Kovarian stepped around the table for River. The woman quickly backtracked the same step. "Someone is getting into that astronaut suit and doing the deed. I allow you mercy by giving you the freedom to choose who will do it. You can climb into the astronaut suit and shoot the Doctor dead, sparing your poor daughter the atrocious act of killing her love. However, if you decide to keep your _baby_ daughter - I won't judge - then I will have that one-" She pointed back at Avalon who couldn't be more terrified at the prospect, "-be in the suit. She shoots the Doctor and then she's off to Stormcage. I'm sure you could arrange visitations."

River felt a deep fury fill her insides, something she had to be truly careful about given her state. "You will not touch my daughter!"

"Ah, so is that your choice then? You take her place?"

"N-n-n-n-n-no! No!" Avalon started once she got the idea. "She doesn't accept anything! And neither do I! I would rather die than kill the Doctor! Shoot me right now!"

"I would but I'm not interested in finding out how many regenerations you have right now," Kovarian dismissed her and continued on with River. "Well then? I don't have all day, and neither does the Doctor actually. You or her?"

"I won't do it," River said, nearly making a promise to Avalon there and then. "I'm not killing him..."

This did not settle well with Kovarian. "Perhaps another persuasion tactic is needed - my second gift. Bring him in!"

Two more Silence walked into the room dragging in a young ginger man. Avalon and River immediately recognized him.

"Let me go! What the hell are you anyways!?" The man angrily pulled and pulled against their claw-like hands.

"Uncle Oliver?" Avalon struggled against the Silence holding her. "Why-why are you here? Why is he here!?" She threw a glare at Kovarian.

"Oliver?" River had recognized him perfectly, and now looked even more terrified than before.

"Make the decision, Melody Pond," Kovarian began to warn again.

"R-River they're crazy!" the man, Oliver, was struggling hard. "They're talking about murder and our daughter and I-"

"Daughter?" Avalon repeated just before Kovarian's roaring voice went over hers.

"MAKE THE DECISION!"

"NO!" River exclaimed.

Once again defeated, Kovarian struck with another strategy. With one swift move she had pulled out a gun and shot Oliver on the chest. The man collapsed on the ground.

"NOOO!" River nearly lunged forwards as she saw this happen. The tears were quick to fill her eyes and spill down.

Avalon had gasped with horror. "No, no! You didn't have to do that! Why - why would you do that!?"

River tried reaching Oliver but Kovarian blocked the way. "Please…" River begged her. "He's dying…"

"Yes, what a terrible thing _you_ just did," Kovarian said flatly. "How will she ever forgive you?"

River swallowed hard as she looked over to Avalon. "Please...that's her father. Let her be with him. It's his last moments."

"My father…?" Avalon repeated. Her head was spinning and this time it wasn't because of all the electric shocks she'd gotten recently. "He's my…" She met River's teary gaze and watched her nod. "Oh my God!" She wrestled free from the Silence to run to Oliver. She fell to her knees beside him. "I-I...I don't know what to do, I'm sorry…"

Oliver had very little energy left but he had enough to recognize her. He had seen her already before, once. "My Avalon…"

She swallowed hard and nodded her head. "They say...they say you're my Dad. Is that...is that true?"

Olivia struggled to smile at her, hoping to answer her question. "You have my hair."

Avalon leaned closer to him and nodded again. "I...I guess I do?" Oliver groaned and shuddered a breath. Avalon barely understood what was happening but her eyes were giving out tears. She was so sad; sad over him. "You're my father and you're dying. I've killed you!"

"No, no," Oliver reached out as if to hug her so Avalon cradled his body as much as she could. "My beautiful Avalon. You grow up, you'll be safe...and happy…"

"No, no, no, don't talk like that. If it's all true then-then that means we have a lot of catching up to do. Stay with me please," Avalon pressed a kiss to his cheek, feeling a faint tickle over her skin from his light beard. "You're my Dad, you have to stay with me." Oliver smiled at her one more time before his eyes fell shut. "No! C'mon! No!" Avalon called for him to wake up, pleaded him to, but he was completely still.

River was despondent as she looked over her desk to see Oliver still and eyes shut. "He had... _nothing_ to do with this..." She said to Kovarian in a frail whisper.

"I wouldn't have had to do that if you had just obeyed," Kovarian glowered. "You know the rules. You listen to me _or else_. Who I shoot next is all up to you."

River's eyes flickered to Avalon beside Oliver. She was crying so terrible it broke her heart. Her daughter had just watched her father die, held him. "What happens to her? If I obey, what will happen to my daughter?"

"I'll wipe her memories of everything that happened to her in these last months then I'll send her to Leadworth where she'll meet your younger self. I hear you guys had a blast in Berlin," Kovarian smirked. She knew that no matter what happened she had already won. Berlin had already happened.

The door flung open again and this time several soldiers stormed in with the famous white astronaut suit. Avalon actually screamed at the sight of it, already terrified from what happened and what she already watched happen.

"Not that! Please, not that!" She held her father's body closer to her, as if somehow he would still be able to protect her. "Not that!"

Two soldiers came to rip her away from her father's corpse and for the suit. River screamed at them to stop while Kovarian laughed. "It's time to choose Dr. Song, we've simply run out of time!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Sooo Avalon knows who her mother is and she is NOT happy about it. The ending of this chapter hit me in the gut because it's just so frikin sad. I promise the next story is a little lighter but the comic arc I plan to follow does have some of its moments too. But definitely, overall, happier tone to it!

It's all going down in the next chapter ladies and gents! So excited to see your reactions! It goes without saying that things will be very different from the show and of course it'll be angsty. Also, just a clarification for the time the passed by. When Avalon says it's been 2 years for her, she means in the TARDIS. Obviously in Leadworth it's still 2011 but for her, it's been 2 years since the beginning of this story!

**P.S** As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is **"sailorstars"**


	28. The Wedding of a Lifetime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time is ripping apart until the Doctor dies at Lake Silencio but before he can make it happen, he has to make the Ponds understand, including one determined Avalon and her mother.

The Doctor, the Reynolds sisters, the Ponds, and River had a picnic set up near a silent lake in Utah. They had toasted and ate together, spending a nice afternoon. Everything was going fine, according to plan...and then the astronaut appeared in the middle of the lake.

"Oh, my God!" River had jumped up to her feet, prompting the others to do the same.

"What's going on?" Avalon looked around, feeling like it was some sort of trap. But that couldn't be right, the Doctor was the one who sent the letters. He'd never bring them into a trap!

"You all need to stay back. Whatever happens now, you do not interfere," the Doctor instructed them all as he stood up."Clear?"

Avalon opened her mouth to refuse but she saw the same silhouette she'd seen moments ago up at the dunes again. "Woah..." she blinked, "I...remember that, now. I-I think I've seen it before..." It looked like a creature but she wasn't entirely sure. The sun kept blocking it.

The Doctor tore her gaze away from the figure, not even bothering to look at it himself. As long as he did what they wanted, Avalon would leave the lake unharmed. "Ava, you listen to me right now," he set his hands on her arms, "You have to be careful, okay? You should..." he swallowed hard, struggling to say his words, "...you should stay away from me." Because the truth was, if she hadn't gotten all tangled up with him, she would've never been taken at Demons Run. That was their sad truth.

But of course Avalon wouldn't understand that, whether she was from the past or the future she would never agree with him.

"What?" she blinked, surprised at his urgency that had come out of nowhere. "Why would I do that?"

"Because it's the best thing you could've done," he whispered with genuine regret. He'd been too weak to stay away from her. He knew the consequences and yet he'd still fallen in temptation. "If I could change one thing it's this...you..." He gave her one last look before kissing her forehead and walked for the astronaut.

The Doctor walked a bit slowly but steadily towards the lake. He literally could not be late for this. He came face to face with the astronaut and solemnly stared at its visor. "Hello. It's OK, I know it's _you_ ," he spoke quietly, watching the visor finally raise up. "I know the choices that brought you here...I figured it out."

With the visor gone he could now see the young River Song inside. He'd worked it out a long time ago. It would always either be River or Avalon in the suit but how would Kovarian choose? She wouldn't. Her choosing would take the fun out of the whole thing. Making _them_ choose would be the better option. It was why Avalon had her memories wiped and returned to them in Berlin. Doing that secured the secret identity of the astronaut and leave River to commit the crime.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, they made me," River was in tears, completely frantic and panicked. "They had an older Avalon and...they gave me a choice." She swallowed hard, still getting flashes of the last moments she saw Avalon and Oliver. It would take a long time for her to get over it. "Either I got into the suit...or she did. They killed her father in front of her," River scrunched her face as new tears fell down her face. The Doctor's eyes widened with genuine shock. The mystery of Oliver Reynolds' death had been solved. "If I don't do this they'll kill Avalon on sight," River's voice broke as she tried to look around from her helmet, "The Silence is here, watching her and me. I've been warned not to do anything, or they'll kill her."

"It's okay," the Doctor tried to make her see he was being honest, "I love her, and if it takes me dying to keep her safe, alive and _free_ , then so be it."

"Please, just RUN!" River begged, "I can't stop it. The suit's in control."

"You're not supposed to. This has to happen."

"Please, just listen, just run!"

"I did run," the Doctor nodded, "Sacrificed a life with a very important woman for that. And look where I am now? _Here_."

"I don't want to be a murder," River nearly broke down, "My own daughter is going to hate me. Run."

"It's OK, she'll forgive you," the Doctor sighed.

"No! She won't! Her father's dead because of me and now you will be too!"

"But they erased her memory, you can tell her what happened. How you took the place they were going to force upon her," the Doctor insisted, "Tell her it was inevitable: this is where I die. This is a fixed point, this must happen, this always happens. Don't worry...you won't even remember this. Look over there," he turned very slightly at the others who were staring at them.

"That's me," River said in horror, "How can I be there?"

"That's you from the future. Serving time for a murder you probably can't remember. My murder."

"Why would you do that? Make me watch?"

"So that you know this is inevitable. And you are forgiven," the Doctor looked back at her, "Always and completely forgiven."

River struggled as her arm raised on its own. "Please, just go! Take my daughter and run!"

"I can't," the Doctor shook his head.

"Time can be rewritten."

"Don't you dare. Goodbye, River," the Doctor shut his eyes to wait for the end. There were five gunshots that made him jerk but he quickly realized that no part of him had been injured. He cracked open one eye and found River smirking at him.

" _No one_ tells me what to do," she informed the very words her daughter would one day say as well.

"What have you done!?" the Doctor asked in terror, now fearing the consequences.

"Well... I think I just drained my weapon systems," River shrugged and became urgent, "Now take Avalon and get the hell out of here!"

"But this is fixed. This is a fixed point in time!"

"Fixed points can be rewritten..."

"No, they can't, of course they can't, who told you?!" but the Doctor never received an answer as a flash of light changed the course of time.

~ 0 ~

While the Doctor had relayed the events of his death to Winston Churchill, they'd somehow moved rooms without even noticing. That would not be strange if it wasn't for the fact that the Doctor was supposed to be an imprisoned soothsayer, even completing the role with the tattered clothes and the beard and longer hair. But as he kept telling the story, he found he'd acquired a pike from somewhere while Winston had taken out his own weapon, a gun.

"Gunsmoke. That's gunsmoke!" Winston had gotten the scent and looked at his gun in horror, "I appear to have fired this."

"We seem to be defending ourselves," the Doctor realized and was now more alarmed since the room they were in seemed completely empty.

"I don't understand..."

"The creatures that lead the Silence. Remarkable beings...they're memory-proof," the Doctor started to slowly backtrack out of the room with Winston.

"But what does that mean?" the man asked with utter confusion.

"You can't remember them. The moment you look away, you forget they were ever there..." the Doctor noticed a black tally mark on his left wrist, "Don't panic. In small numbers, they're not too difficult. Of course that was before he saw his right arm covered in the tally marks. He slowly turned his head up, making Winston do the same, and saw a swarm of Silence on the ceiling like bats, all looking down at them.

The Doctor stiffened as he heard a beeping noise coming behind them, followed by the noise of something dropping to the floor. He turned and saw a small black device, "Go!" he shouted and jumped out of the way with Winston as the device spewed out smoke then exploded.

"Go! Go!" went the voice of a soldier as an entire group of them burst into the room, "Keep the Silents in sight at all times, keep your eye drives active."

A woman dressed in a black suit walked into the room, casual as ever. She seemed to be coming directly for the Doctor. He squinted through the smoke to get a better look at her but there was simply too much smoke around.

"Who are you? Identify yourself!" Winston called with his gun already aimed at the figure.

"Lena Emilia Reynolds," the brunette woman flashed a smile as she stepped in front of the two men, "Put the gun down, you can hurt someone with that."

"Baby sister!" the Doctor exclaimed and pushed the gun down, "She's on our side, it's OK."

"There we go," Lena watched the gun be put down entirely before she whipped out her own.

The Doctor had noticed she was wearing one of the Silence eye-patches over her eye, "No! Lena, why are you wearing that?"

"Hush now," Lena said then fired her gun at the Doctor, knocking him out cold next.

~ 0 ~

Upon the Orient Express train, the Doctor woke up on a couch inside an office. He looked around and only heard the sounds of a radio broadcasting, " _The Government has again apologized for extensive radio interference caused by solar flare and sunspot activity._ "

Once he was more lucid, he noticed Amy standing at the doorway of the room, making him spring back to life. "Amy!"

"Those stun guns aren't fun, I'm sorry. I told Lena it was best to avoid a long conversation," Amy walked further into the room, "You need to get up though, we'll be in Cairo shortly."

"Amy Pond!" the Doctor said in panic, "Amelia Pond from Leadworth, please, listen to me. I know it seems impossible, but you know me. In another version of reality you and I were best friends. We traveled together, we had adventures. Amelia Pond! You grew up with a time rift in the wall of your bedroom. You can often see what others can't, you can remember things that never happened - well, most of the time!" He picked up the first thing near his hand which happened to be a crafted miniaturized TARDIS. "And if you try, if you really, really try, you'll be able to..." And then he realized what he was holding, "Oh...oh!" He started taking notice of the many drawings pinned up on the wall, as well as clearly written stories on paper, "... _oh_." His voice dimmed a bit as he recognized the perfect, cursive writing.

"You look rubbish," Amy knew what had stopped his excitement from coming on.

"...you look wonderful," the Doctor set down the TARDIS without looking at her.

"So do you," Amy picked up a hanger which held the Doctor's usual attire.

The Doctor smiled slightly at that and took it from her, "Geronimo," he whispered.

~ 0 ~

A couple minutes later the Doctor was fully changed and shaved, though there was still the matter of a proper haircut left, "OK, you can turn round now. How do I look?"

Amy turned from her desk and rolled her eyes, "Cool."

"Really?"

"No."

The Doctor sighed and walked around the room, "Cool office though. Why do you have an office?! Are you a special agent boss lady? Not sure about the eye patch.

"It's not an eye patch," Amy shook her head, "Time's gone wrong. Some of us noticed. There's a whole team of us working on it... You'll see."

"And you've got an office on a train, that is so cool," the Doctor beamed, "Can I have an office? Never had an office before! Or a train. Or a train slash office."

Amy laughed and went over to hug him, "God, I've missed you!"

"OK, hugging and missing now," the Doctor pulled away and glanced back at the doorway, "Where is...everyone?"

"You mean Lena, Avalon, and Rory," Amy recited like she'd memorized the names with struggle, "Baby sister," she pointed at the Time Lord, "Granddaughter, and my husband," she ran back to her desk and picked up a sketch, "This is Rory, right?" She held the sketch to him that was really more like a stick figure. "I've no idea, I can't find him. I love him very much, don't I?"

The Doctor took the sketch from her and studied it, "Apparently."

"I have to keep doing this. I have to keep writing and drawing things," Amy put a hand on her head, "I mean, Lena I see and I know who Avalon is, but Rory? I can't remember him cos I don't know him..." she leaned against her desk and sighed.

"It's not your fault, time's gone wrong," the Doctor moved over to sit beside her, "Do you remember why?"

"The lakeside."

"Lake Silencio, Utah. I died."

"But then you didn't," Amy pointed, "I remember it twice, different ways."

"Two different versions of the same event, both happening in the same moment. Time split wide open. Now look at it," the Doctor pointed out the window, "All of history happening at once."

"Does it matter?" Amy raised an eyebrow, "I mean can't we just stay like this?"

"Time isn't just frozen. It's disintegrating. It will spread and spread and all of reality will simply fall apart."

There was a knock on the door and a soldier, Rory, leaned in, "Ma'am, we're about to arrive. Eye drives need to be activated as soon as we disembark."

Lena came in behind him, "And they say there's been alterations just with his closeness," she nodded to the Doctor, a bit confused by the smiling man. He kept smiling at her even though she hadn't done anything.

"Thank you," Amy said to them both.

"Hello," the Doctor waved at them.

Rory and Lena looked at each other, both questioning why the man was so happy in a situation like this. Still, Lena didn't want to be rude and gave a response, "Hello, nice to meet you," she even smiled and headed out of the room with Rory.

"It's weird," Amy remarked when the two were gone, " _I_ know who Lena is, Avalon knows who she is, River knows who she is...but Lena doesn't know. It kills Avalon but she doesn't want to make things worse by giving Lena this whole backstory that might freak her out." She glanced at the Doctor since he'd given no response to that. Every time she mentioned her granddaughter's name, he got silent and...quite sad. "Why are you older? If time isn't really passing, then how can you be ageing?"

"Time's still passing for me. Every explosion has an epicenter. I'm it... I'm what's wrong."

"What's wrong with you?"

"I'm still alive," the Doctor sighed in resignation. Two hundred years might just be going down the drain if he didn't get things fixed asap.

~0 ~

Rory was leading Amy and the Doctor towards a room where they apparently had trapped Silents in. However, there was a bit of reluctance to keep going from Rory due to the Doctor's eye drive still not being used. The Time Lord was studying the eye drive in his palm with disgust.

"You have to put it on, sir," Rory said for the last time as they walked down a staircase.

"An eye patch. What for?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"It's not an eye patch," Amy wondered if she'd have to force the eye drive on the man at this point.

"It's an eye drive, sir," Rory went on to explain, "It communicates directly with the memory centres of the brain, acts as external storage."

"Only thing that works on them. Because no living mind can remember these things," Amy reminded, "So please, just put it on. We're about to enter."

They entered the room bathed in a blue glow to find Avalon inside, staring at the chambers that held the Silents prisoners. She didn't notice them as she was too busy studying them.

"You're looking at me, you're always looking at me," she whispered and placed a hand on the glass of one chamber, "I don't understand..."

"Avalon, get away from there!" Amy yelled as soon as they'd entered the room.

Startled, Avalon turned from the chambers to face the group, "I was only looking..." She said as her defense, a lazy thumb pointed at the chambers.

"And _touching_ ," Rory stalked up to her and pulled her away from the chambers, "There are strict orders for you—"

"Shut up," she pointed then looked past him to Amy and the Doctor, her change of attitude evident once her eyes settled on the Doctor.

The Doctor had no idea what to expect from her. Like Amy, Avalon remembered the events happening in two different ways. She was more aware than them, actually, and if she remembered what happened before Kovarian sent her to Berlin, she could be a ticking time bomb of feelings.

Avalon said nothing to him for a few seconds but suddenly she was running towards him. He barely had time to open his arms to catch her when she threw herself on him. Her arms wrapped tightly around his for fear that he would slip away from her again. "You're still here," she eventually looked up at him with a big smile on her face.

"Yes, well, you can't really plan around River Song," the Doctor muttered, but he still gave her a smile. How could he not smile at her?

"Um, ma'am," Rory called to Amy suddenly, his gaze intently watching the Silence. "They're looking at him."

At his words, the Doctor and Avalon shifted to see the creatures moving just to watch _him_.

"It would appear so," the Doctor agreed. His arm around Avalon gripped her waist tighter. "What are the tanks for?"

"They can draw electricity from anything, it's how they attack. The fluid insulates them," Rory explained and turned around for the other chambers to see the creatures also staring at the Doctor, "And I don't like the way they're looking at you."

"Me neither..."

"Ma'am, I'm sure it's nothing, but I should check it out. They haven't been this active in a while," Rory said to Amy then called to the soldiers by the stairs, "You two, upstairs, check all the tank seals. Then the floors above, get everyone checking."

"Sir!" the soldiers filed out of the room.

"You go ahead, Ma'am," Rory looked at Amy, "And Avalon, for the love of God, don't touch the tanks."

Avalon rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah," she waved him off.

"Do you remember him?" the Doctor had to ask her in a whisper as Amy spoke to Rory.

"He's my best friend but Amy doesn't know him," Avalon nodded. "I know Lena's here too...but you know who I can't find? Apart from my uncle Ryland and Gavin? The Sapling. I know that we...we gave him life…" She said awkwardly, blushing afterwards. "But he's not here."

"He might not exist, Ava," the Doctor said with a quiet sigh. "Not everyone's made it to this reality and even if they did, some of them are disappearing, disintegrating."

"We're going to fix it though," Avalon assured him. She curled an arm around his neck and played with his longer hair at the nape of his neck. "I like this new do."

"Yeah?" The Doctor tilted his head slightly. Suddenly they weren't in the middle of a disintegrating reality, they were just spending time together.

"Mhm, there's definitely more _pull,"_ Avalon's smirk widened as soon as he stammered. "C'mon," she took his hand and called for Amy to join them. However, before they could enter, the Doctor pulled back for a moment, claiming there was something he had 'check on'. Avalon could see through his lie but he kept looking back where Rory had walked through so she let it be.

Amy lifted her jacket's lapel and spoke into her comm. "We're in. He's on his way. Be on red alert."

A short moment later, the Doctor was back and they were heading into the main chamber of Area 51: a pyramid. Time was _so_ wrong.

The room was filled with high tech machinery. It was a sophisticated laboratory with many scientists working at every post. Upon entering, they overheard one of the scientists, a woman named Kent, informing a woman whose back was to the trio, "You were right. Just his presence in the building caused the loop to extend by nearly four chronons."

The Doctor spotted the bushy, curly haired woman the scientist was speaking to. He glowered. "River Song, what a mess you have made!" He had more to say but everything stopped when River turned around and he saw how _pregnant_ she was. The astronaut suit was big for a reason and now they knew why. "You're…"

"Pregnant?" River rested a hand on her stomach, "Yes, I've noticed. Quite frankly, I'm surprised you did too. I've heard stories." She stepped aside to reveal Kovarian bound to a chair behind.

"The death of time. The end of time. The end of us all," Kovarian swayed her head tiredly, "Oh, why couldn't you just die?"

"Did my best, dear. I showed up," the Doctor said with a deep glower marking his face. He had felt Avalon's hand flinch in his the moment they saw Kovarian. She remembered her time with the woman too.

"You're a fool," spat Kovarian. "All of you are. None of you can see that what I'm doing is for the better of the universe. _I'm_ from the future, if you've all forgotten. I know what happens to all of you."

The Doctor scowled at the woman. "Be quiet," he ordered. He was already going to die so she didn't have to bring in any more of his friends.

"But I do," she smirked. "Your friends will die, Doctor—"

"I said _quiet_ _!_ " the Doctor's voice was hard enough to make Avalon flinch beside him.

"—and you'll meet the girl I tried my best to stop you from reaching—"

"STOP!" the Doctor's command made no effect.

"—and then your precious littlest Pond will die in the fields of Trenzalore—"

"What the hell is that?" Avalon tried her best to sound brave but the truth is that she was scared out of her mind. "I'm going to d—"

The Doctor let go of her hand to stalk up to Kovarian. "I SAID SHUT UP!" he yelled in her face, now utterly furious. He had no idea what she was talking about and he doubted that it was true. It was utter nonsense!

"Doctor!" Amy called to him.

He turned around to see Avalon's widened, teary eyes. Immediately, he let Kovarian slip his mind. "Ava, hey..." he hurried back to her and wrapped her up in a hug.

Meanwhile, Kovarian smirked at everyone who dared look at her. She had said her peace and now they would wallow in the truth.

"You're going to be okay," the Doctor promised Avalon and set a kiss on her head.

"You mean because you're going to die?" she looked up at him.

He didn't want to answer that and start a whole new round of arguing. Instead, he answered with a different subject in mind. ""Love what you've done with the pyramids. How did you swing all this?"

"Hallucinogenic lipstick," River shrugged and glanced at Avalon, "Apparently, it worked wonders on President Kennedy."

"Excuse me?" it was the Doctor's turn to glare at Avalon.

"Oh shut up, she said I couldn't do it so I had to do it," Avalon rolled her eyes. River stared at her with pursed lips. "Stop looking at me," Avalon snapped and avoided her mother's gaze at all costs.

"Ah, so you remember…" the Doctor looked between the two, his eyes lowering to River's stomach, Avalon doing the same.

"It's plain weird what that is," she said quietly before meeting River's gaze. "And she is not my mother."

"Avalon, I've tried explaining everything but you won't let me," River sighed. She had lost count how many times she tried having the conversation with her.

"And yet you don't seem to take the hint!" Avalon snapped. "The only reason I am working with you is because of him!" She nodded her head at the Doctor.

"Ava," he tried to calm her down but she yanked her hand out of his when she realized it.

"No! This is one thing you can't fix, Fairy Tale Man! I don't want her! Soon as I'm…" She looked at River's stomach again, "... _born,_ she's going to abandon me."

"I would _never_ ," River found it hard not to snap. She was the mother, she had to control herself and make Avalon see the truth. "That's why I'm doing all of this."

"River, as much as I sympathize with you right now...we can't let this continue," the Doctor said. "Reality is fatally compromised. Tell me you understand that."

"I do," River nodded and moved around the room like it was a casual Friday.

"I am alive and because of that time is _dying_ ," the Doctor reiterated, annoyed his words were flying in through one of her ears and coming out the other, "Because of you, River."

"Because I refused to kill you and set in motion my daughter's history?"

"I'm sorry but it has to be done!" The Doctor glared at River and the moment Amy say it, she shouted for the soldiers.

"Get him!"

The soldiers ran through the room just as the Doctor reached out for River. They pulled him away from her.

"I'm not a fool, sweetie. I know what happens if we touch," River said. The Doctor mocked a smile then lunged at the woman, managing to grab her wrist that time, "Get off me, get him off me!" She cried.

Avalon dashed to help and tried prying the Doctor off her, "You have to let her go!"

Across the room Kent checked the monitor that held the time, "It's moving. Time's moving!" she called

"Get him off me!" River hollered.

"I'm sorry, River, it's the only way!" the Doctor held onto her tightly and for a brief moment they were back at Lake Silencio.

"Enough!" Avalon gave the final cry as the Doctor was pulled away from them by some soldiers, "We need to restrain him," she resolved and looked at River who nodded in agreement.

"Cuff him," River ordered.

"Oh, why do you always have handcuffs?" the Doctor whined as his hands were pulled behind him to be cuffed, "It's the only way. We're the opposite poles of the disruption. If we touch, we short out the differential, time can begin."

"And I'll be by a lakeside, killing you," River nodded, "While I'm pregnant with..." her eyes flickered to Avalon.

"Shut up," Avalon ordered and looked away.

"And time won't fall apart. Reality will continue," the Doctor added, "There isn't another way."

"I didn't say there was," River sadly said, "But right here, right now, you're alive and so is she. Maybe this is not that bad?"

"It's _very_ bad," the Doctor corrected but side-glanced Avalon with a soft smile. "I would love to spend my life with you but Time will literally run out on us. It's not possible."

Avalon tilted her head at him, smiling so lovingly at him like no one else had. "Let's go then."

The Doctor laughed lightly. "Where to?"

Avalon remembered this conversation perfectly from their first date. "Neverland." Her heart even fluttered the same way it had on that day.

* * *

_Avalon hummed while she thought about such an outrageous place that even he couldn't make it happen. "I got it. Can you take me to, I don't know, **Neverland**?" That had to be impossible for him to reach._

_"I'd make it so," the Doctor gently tugged Avalon to him, smiling at her soft laughter. "I would!"_

* * *

It seemed like the Doctor remembered as well because he looked at her with a softened face. "I'd make it so," he whispered. Avalon felt the tears welling in her eyes.

Amy flinched when something cold hit her face. She realized it was a drop of water. "Doctor...what's that?" She made everyone look up to the ceiling. More water was dripping down.

"The pyramid above us. How many Silents do you have trapped inside it?" The Doctor swallowed hard once he realized what was happening.

"None," Kovarian answered the question, getting everyone's attention, "They're not trapped, they never have been. They've been waiting for this, Doctor... For you."

At that moment, Rory and Lena burst in from the doors. "They're out! All of them!" Lena shouted in terror.

Quickly, Rory and some other soldiers placed a thick plank of wood across the doors to bar them from the Silence.

"Lena, over here!" Avalon immediately ushered her sister to her side.

Rory rushed to Amy. "Ma'am, my men out there, should be able to lock this down, we have them outnumbered."

"And you're wearing eye drives based on mine, I think," Kovarian once again grabbed everyone's attention. She was smirking far too widely for their taste. "Oops!"

"What do you mean?" the Doctor inquired, equally confused as the others.

As if to answer on cue, Kent started screaming as her eye drive electrified her. She soon collapsed on the floor. Amy ran towards her body and dropped beside her to check her vitals. "She's dead," Amy looked up in horror, also catching Rory having to remove a soldier's eye drive for the same reasons.

Then the Doctor started feeling his own eye drive shock him, "Eye pads off, now, remove them!"

Avalon made sure Lena had hers off then rushed to help the Doctor take his off. "No, no, yours!" He told her, flapping his bound wrists in front of her. With a groan, she ripped her eye drive off her first then his.

"The Silence would never allow an advantage, without taking one themselves. The effects will vary from person to person... either death or debilitating agony. But they will take you all, one by one..." Kovarian's laugh was short lived when her own her eye drive started buzzing with electricity. "What are you doing? No, it's me…" She flinched in her chair each time she was shocked. "Don't be stupid, you need me. Stop it, stop that!"

"We could stop this right now, you and I," the Doctor called to River, dead serious. This was getting even more dangerous and he didn't think it was possible since Time was dying.

"Get it off me!" Kovarian cried in agony.

"Amy, tell her!" the Doctor insisted since River was keeping quiet.

"We've been working on something," Avalon spoke up instead. "The only reason i'm in the same room as River is because of this. Please, just let us show you."

"That's my point. There's nothing you can do. My time is up," the Doctor said in frustration.

"Shut up and listen, will you?" Avalon snapped, "We're doing this for you!"

"Then people are dying for me. I won't thank you for that, Ava," the Doctor snapped back.

"We'll there's a lot of things I can't thank you for either," Avalon countered, "And yet here I am. So you're gonna follow River and _listen_ , got it?"

"Just let us show you, please," River pleaded with a low voice, still hopeful everything could turn out fine.

Amy turned to Lena, "How long do we have?"

"At most I'd say a couple of minutes," the brunette breathed then jumped as the door rattled the door from the other side, "Or less, definitely less..."

"That's enough. We're going to the Receptor Room right at the top of the pyramid," River said determinedly, "I hope you're ready for a climb."

"I could say the same thing for you," the Doctor gestured to her current state.

River rolled her eyes, "I'll manage. Avalon, let's go," she ordered and startled the ginger, also prompting a confused face, "You didn't think I was gonna let you stay here. Absolutely not, let's go."

"Fine," Avalon huffed. "But only because of the circumstances. "But Lena comes with me too." There was no way in hell she would let her sister stay back with killer Silents.

"What?" Lena blinked in confusion.

"Shut up and say okay," Avalon nudged her, soon receiving the answer she'd ordered for.

And so, River led the way for them out of the room.

"I'll wait down here, Ma'am. Buy you as much time as I can," Rory's decision kept Amy from following the others.

She turned around and saw the eye drive still on him. "You have to take your eye drive off."

"Can't do that, Ma'am. Might forget what's coming."

"But it could activate any second!"

"It has activated, Ma'am!" It was then that Amy noticed he was fiercely balling his fist on his side. He was fighting off the electricity when it was so close to killing him. "But I'm of no use to you if I can't remember. You have to go now, Ma'am."

Amy looked at him with a firm nod. "Yes."

"Now!"

"Yes, thank you, Captain Williams." Amy turned around and marched out of the room.

Rory fought the electrical pain surging through his body and turned to face the incoming Silence breaking through the door. He aimed his gun at them just as they broke in.

"Rory Williams, the man who dies and dies again," the three creatures chorused together. "Die one last time and know she will never come back for you."

Amy had a thing to say about as she marched back into the room with a machine gun and fired at all of them. She let the gun drop to the ground then helped Rory stand up since he'd fallen through the chaos. "Come on, you. Up you get. You all right?" She pulled the eye drive off him before he could answer. He breathed out in relief when he felt the electricity fade away.

"Amy, help me!" Kovarian called from her chair. Her eye drive was hanging off her face but was otherwise still attached to her skin.

Amy balled her own fists when she turned to the woman. She didn't have all the memories but she knew enough to know what that woman had done to her family. "You took my baby from me and hurt her. And now she's all grown up and she's fine, but I'll never see my baby again. And then you went ahead and you stole her daughter, my granddaughter…" She stormed up to the woman and bent down in front of her. "She was traumatized because of you."

"But you'll still save me, though. Because he would, and you'd never do anything to disappoint your precious Doctor," Kovarian truly played her last card. Amy shook her head, making her last ounce of hope fade.

"The Doctor once said he'd kill any Silence he ever came across with because of what they did to us...I wholeheartedly agree," Amy put the eyedrive back on Kovarian's eye. "River Song didn't get it all from you, sweetie." She got up and left Kovarian screaming in her chair. She took Rory by the arm and glanced at him. "So, you and me, we should get a drink some time."

Rory was surprised with the switch of moments but he would be damned if he ruined it. "Okay…"

"...and married."

"Fine." He was very okay with that.

~ 0 ~

The group arrived at the top of the pyramid where the Doctor immediately was drawn to a whirring machine at the center. It was the only thing there and it was mighty alive, meaning it was doing something. "What's this?" He circled it. "Oh, it's a timey-wimey distress beacon. Who built this?"

"I'm the child of the TARDIS, I understand the physics," River explained.

"Yes, but that's all you've got — a distress beacon!"

"But that's all we need," Lena spoke up, still sounding meek as was her usual tone. "I mean...that's what they say." She looked over to Avalon, for some reason always drawn to her whenever things got challenging.

"We've been sending out a message, a distress call," River began, "Outside the bubble of our time, the universe is still turning, and I've sent a message everywhere, to the future and the past, the beginning and the end of everything. "The Doctor is dying, please, please help".

"River, River, this is ridiculous. That would mean nothing to anyone, it's insane," the Doctor shook his head, "Worse, it's stupid! You embarrass me."

"Hey!" Avalon snapped at him. "We're trying to help, trying to keep you from dying! Be thankful! Some of us don't want you to die, dammit. You know those reports of the sunspots and the solar flares?" She went around the beacon until she came face to face with him. "They're wrong, there aren't any. It's not the sun, it's _you_. The sky is full of a million, million voices, saying ' _yes, of course we'll help_ '." Tears were quick to fill her eyes. She cupped his face and managed to chuckle. "My Fairy Tale Man was very busy even before he met us. You've touched so many lives, saved so many people. All you had to do was let somebody help you. You just had to _ask_. You're not alone. I don't know what your life was like before us but the moment you crashed in Amy's backyard you stopped being alone. We are your family and family does _not_ let each other die."

"Avalon…" The Doctor pried her hands off his face.

"No, you need to listen to us. You've decided that the universe is better off without you, but the universe doesn't agree. _I_ don't agree..."

"I'm sorry Ava. I'm really sorry," the Doctor sighed and looked at River, "But she and I are ground zero of an explosion that will engulf all reality. Billions on billions will suffer and die. That will include my Ava, our Ava..."

"Not hers," Avalon muttered under her breath.

"Yes, hers. And theirs," the Doctor nodded towards Amy and Rory, the latter immediately glancing at Amy for it.

"In another reality, we got married and had a kid. That's her," Amy pointed to River then moved it over to Avalon. "And that's her kid, our granddaughter. Oh—" she side glanced Lena, —and you're her sister. Well, cousin, but sister."

"Stop all this!" River exclaimed, looking directly at the Doctor. "You think I'm being selfish, and perhaps I am, but don't I have a right? They killed my daughter's father in front of me, in front of _her_ , and if I let time start again then I will end up losing her altogether. I don't want to give up my time with my daughter. I want to see her say her first word, I want to see her take her first steps. I want to see her grow up with _me_ ," she pointed at herself, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks. "I am her mother, and I deserve to see her get ready for her first day of school, her graduation. I deserve to see her dressed in white for her wedding. I don't want to get postcards in jail, no letters. Don't you see?"

Avalon brought her hands to her face when she felt water on her cheeks. When did she start crying? She didn't want to cry, she didn't want to. River reached for one of her hands and she was able to pull Avalon slightly towards her without being rejected.

"I would _never_ abandon you. I love you, whether you're out here...or in here," she gestured to her stomach. "You think that I don't care but that's not true. Maybe I _am_ selfish but I don't care what I have to do to make sure that you're okay, that your safe."

"River," the Doctor hated to cut into their moment, but he had to. The truth was right in front of her and she blinding herself to avoid seeing it. "She's not safe right now. None of us. You know that it's too late, don't you?"

Avalon glanced at him with a puzzled look. "What are you talking about?"

The Doctor heavily sighed. "Ava, you grew up with your uncle and aunt. You grew up with your cousins Lena and Gavin as your siblings. I'm so sorry but this has already happened. River, you've already done it. This is a fixed point."

Avalon felt River's grip on her hand loosen. When she looked at the woman, River was shaking her head. "No, no, I can fix it. I can change it."

"Don't you see? You can't," the Doctor said sadly. "If you change her past, she doesn't do half the things that will inevitably bring _you_ to creation. Ryland would never come to live on Earth, I don't meet any Reynolds and they don't help me out in our travels. You will cease to exist, River, and so will she."

"But that's terrible!" River snapped, barely stifling her sobs. "I don't want that!"

"I know…"

"And I don't want to kill you either!"

"I know. I'm sorry," the Doctor honestly apologized to her. This was all his fault. She wouldn't have to give up her daughter if she didn't have to 'kill' him, "I've ruined Melody Pond's life with her parents and now I'll mess up Avalon's chance with her mother…"

Avalon looked between him and River. Her heart was breaking but she could honestly say that it could not be more than either of theirs. She was the middle ground they could all agree on and yet she was also making it worse for everyone. Her existence made everything more complicated and yet she continued making everything more difficult with her behavior.

"I'm sorry," she said to both of them. She withdrew her hand from River and swallowed hard when she was able to look at them again. "You're both locked in this fight because you can't decide about me."

"No, Avalon—"

"River, I'm sorry you were put into this situation in the first place. No one should have to ever go through what you have...and Doctor, I'm sorry for not listening. I did my best to help you but...there is no helping, is there?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Not this time, Ava."

"We have to fix Time," Avalon shuddered a breath when she said it. "Not for me but for everyone else. For everyone who tangled up in this...Pond mess." She cracked the tiniest of smiles that surprised River.

"Avalon, you don't—"

"I don't know what a parent does," Avalon cut River off, "And I've been ignoring what everyone's been saying. I'm sorry." Her eyes wandered to River's stomach. "It's just so weird...I'm here, but I'm also... _there_ …"

"I want us to stay together…" River had lost her fighting voice. She was disgusted with herself for letting things happen the way they already had. She walked up to the Doctor, tears in her eyes, and looked up at him. "The choice has already been made, hasn't it?"

"A long time ago, I'm afraid," he nodded. "But I've got one thing left to say."

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Look in my eyes and know that she will be safe."

"But—"

"Just do it, please."

River reluctantly agreed. The others watched them, cautious as they expected the Doctor to seize her hand and restart time again, but nothing of the sort happened.

"I'm confused," Lena whispered to Amy and Rory.

This time, Amy agreed. "Mhm."

River stepped away from the Doctor, sighing heavily. "I'm not going to see her grow up," she whispered with a quiet sniffle to follow. If that's the choice she had to keep her safe then...so be it, but there was one other thing that she could do for Avalon right now. "Show her that you won't leave her."

"What?" The Doctor didn't quite catch it the first time.

"She thought I abandoned her and she thought you left her too. I want that to stop. That is _my_ condition. I want my daughter to know that she was loved."

"River, you can stop," Avalon called to her. "I-I get it, alright? It's hard, but...I guess I do." She would just need loads of time to process it.

"No, you listen to me," River snapped her fingers at the Doctor for him to listen, " You do this...not for me, but for her. Show her that she's not forgotten."

_The epilogue_. Or prologue, if he was being just a tad hopeful. He met Avalon's puzzled face and couldn't fathom being apart from her any longer. He would have to, if he wanted things to turn alright for her. "Princess," he held his hand out for her. "It's time to say goodbye."

"We've already done that. I don't want to do it again," she said and yet still took his hand, letting him bring her closer to him. "I can't take it a second time."

"I know, but can I have a dying request?"

"Anything for you."

"Marry me."

Naturally, Avalon froze. She blinked at him but he was quite serious. "You...you want me to what…?"

"It's the ending to our story, and how could I not marry my princess? My Ava?"

Avalon felt her heart beating so fast under her chest that she was sure it was close to bursting. "I-I...be your _wife?"_ She kept asking the same thing in different ways, wasn't she?

"Well, I know the stories end with the prince getting the princess, but this daft old knight-in-shining-armor would love to take his place and marry you," the Doctor took hold of her hands, smiling at her as lovingly as she had before. "Would you marry me, Ava?"

Avalon nodded her head so fast she had to stop herself before she got dizzy. "Yes." Everything was swirling in her mind. _Marry_. She was going to marry him — she _wanted_ to marry him.

There was an indescribable feeling that flourished through the Doctor at that moment. Even if it was at the very end of the Time itself, he was incredibly jubilant. His Ava had said 'yes' to marrying him. "Look at that," he glanced at River, "Looks like you won't miss something all the important moments, after all."

"This isn't what I meant," River playfully rolled her eyes, but she would take it.

"Yeah, this is crazy! Even for you two!" Amy called.

"Shut up Ponds," Avalon said without a moment's doubt, her eyes glued to the Time Lord before her, a smile growing across her face. "I'm getting married. I'm getting married to my Fairy Tale Man."

"Okay, then," the Doctor took in a breath as he practically buzzed with joy of what was _actually_ going to happen. If he really did have to go (for a long time) then he would at least get something good out of it, and what better thing than his Ava? She would be his _wife_. He looked around the place. "I need a strip of cloth, about a foot long. Anything will do," he then looked at himself and beamed, "Never mind," he untied his bowtie and held it between him and Avalon, "Ava, take one end of this, wrap it around your hand, and hold it out to me."

"This isn't exactly what I thought marriage would be like," she said in amusement as she followed his instruction, "But I did always know _my_ wedding would be the wedding of a lifetime. No divorces, even if you're dead." It was possibly _the_ worst thing to say in a situation like this but for some reason, they both laughed with the same tears in their eyes. Neither of them ever had a clue of what being prudent meant.

"A lifetime," the Doctor touched her cheek gently. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Avalon nodded.

"We're in the middle of a combat zone, so we'll have to do the quick version. River, you're the mother here, so...say 'I consent and gladly give'."

"I consent and gladly give," River quickly said, her eyes glued on Avalon who seemed happier than ever. That's what she wanted to see all the time. Even if she was going to be far away from her, River wanted to know that her daughter would be happy.

"Old fashioned," Avalon chuckled and quickly wiped some tears from her face.

"Like a proper fairy tale. Now, for you, Ava, what do you say?"

"I do," Avalon said in a way that made her sound like she'd lost air, in a good way. She was intently watching him for every slight movement he made.

"...I do," the Doctor ultimately said, smiling with her. "I never did come up with a label for us and now I know why. You could have never been my 'girlfriend' because this is what you were meant to be for me: my _wife_."

"My husband," she whispered. "My Fairy Tale Man is my husband."

"There's just one more thing..." The Doctor leaned to her and whispered something in her ear. Almost immediately, Avalon's eyes half-widened and stared as the Doctor pulled away. "I just told you my name. There, my Ava, we're married." He caressed the side of her face and gave her a small kiss.

"The End," she said as they pulled away. _To chapter 1._

They undid the bowtie from their hands but the Doctor left it tucked in Avalon's hand. "Keep it safe with my watch," he whispered to her. He drew in a breath and walked up to River. She raised her head at him, almost looking like she would defy him again...but she held her hand out.

Their hands met and Time resettled.

River, in the astronaut suit, fired and killed the Doctor.

The rest of the Ponds' and Lena watched it happen by the lake.

Everything was as it should be again.

~ 0 ~

Dorium Maldovar, inside his box, was being carried back to his resting place from where he'd been stolen from. There'd been too many movements for him to keep up with who had him now. Being just a sole head made a lot of things difficult like that.

"Who's carrying me?" He shouted from within the box, "I demand to know...I'm a head, I have rights! I want my doors open this time." The person carrying the box placed it on a pedestal and slid open its door before turning and walking away. "Is it you?!" Dorium called and watched as the figure stopped. It is, isn't it? It _is_ you, I can sense it. But how did you do it? How could you possibly have escaped?!"

An ecstatic Doctor pulled down his hood and dropped his cloak to the floor. He was all too happy to share how he duped the entire Silence. "The Teselecta. A Doctor in a Doctor-Suit. Time said I had to be on that beach so I dressed for the occasion, barely got singed in that boat."

"So you're going to do this, let them all think you're dead?"

"It's the only way they can forget me," the Doctor said earnestly. He had thought about for 200 hundred years and this was the only way things could end up. "I got too big, Dorium, too noisy...time to step back into the shadows."

"And Dr. Song?" Dorium asked, "In prison all her days?"

"Well, I'm sure she'll be sneaking out every now and then. She's got a daughter to keep an eye on, after all."

"So many secrets, Doctor. I'll help you keep them, of course…"

The Doctor tried his best not to laugh on the spot. "Well, you're not exactly going anywhere, are you?"

"But you're a fool nonetheless. Kovarian had rumors spreading…" Dorium paused when the Doctor stopped altogether, "Dr. Song's daughter — you married her, didn't you?"

Dorium might be a head but the Doctor was not above making him suffer there and then. "How do you even know—"

"Kovarian said you would. She said you would marry the girl, your companions would die, and you would go to Trenzalore, the place you must never go to. You've changed the course of time and now it will happen."

"Sorry if I don't buy it from a _head_ ," the Doctor straightened his jacket. Kovarian had said nonsense to make things happen the way she wanted them to. Dorium had to be repeating what he heard. "Goodbye Dorium. My wife's about to be born and I can't miss that. I really can't." He gave a wave of his hand and turned to leave, but of course Dorium still called after him.

"It's all waiting for you now. You may not believe it, it may take centuries, but it's coming. The fields of Trenzalore, the fall of the Eleventh...and the question!"

"Goodbye!"

"The first question! The question that must never be answered, hidden in plain sight. The question you've been running from all your life," Dorium practically shouted, "Doctor who? Doctor who? Doc... tor... WHO?!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

And there we have it folks! River was the astronaut to save her daughter's life. I twisted things around because, honestly, the canon of this show is ridiculously obscure and vague. You've probably noticed that I've placed a heavy importance on season 7 throughout this story, including Clara. I don't know if it was just me but I always wondered why the hell Kovarian went after the Ponds when it was _Clara_ who ended up bringing 11 to Trenzalore. Maybe it's just me and my weird thought process but that's what I'm going for in this story. I'm telling you that season is my favorite and it'll definitely show when we get to that one, though I _am_ splitting it up just like the show did (one for a comic arc story and the second for the later half of s7).

But also! Now we have a new label for Avalon & the Doctor ahaha I've been waiting to drop that one — they're MARRIED. They had to be after all this crap right? But...will they actually be together? There's 2 more chapters left to this story, both original! Plus an epilogue that'll answer the question that's been unanswered throughout this story ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars".


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